The Sea Refuses No River

In 1982, Pete Townshend put out a solo album called All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes. One of my favorite songs on the record is “The Sea Refuses No River.” He performed the song above with his "Deep End" live band at London's Brixton Academy in November 1985.

Deep End consisted of David Gilmour; drummer Simon Phillips; bassist Chucho Merchan; percussionist Jody Linscott; keyboardist John 'Rabbit' Bundrick; backing vocalists Billy Nicholls, Cleveland Watkiss and Chyna; and a five-piece brass ensemble called The Kick Horns.

Pete's daughter, Emma, also did backing vocals in the above video.

I've always admired the ability of Townshend to be very introspective and brutally honest in his writing, while still leaving room for the listener to guess what the song is actually about. That is definitely on display in the lyrics of this song.