Songfacts®:

• Water is symbolic of purification for both Jews and Christians. It plays an important role in the Christian sacrament of Baptism, a rite that is symbolic of rebirth. During this synth-heavy song, Kanye West and his frequent collaborator Ant Clemons talk about how water both cleanses us and is an important part of us.
  
  Clean us like the rain in spring
  Take the chlorine out our conversation
  Let Your light reflect on me
  I promise I'm not hiding anything
  
  West and Clemons want all the toxicity to be washed away from within.
• Ant Clemons takes on the hook duties. West has worked with the New Jersey native on a number of different occasions, including his Ye track "All Mine."
• Following Clemons' chorus and first verse, West raps some prayer-like rhymes in which he asks Jesus to strengthen him and heal him.
• West previewed "Water" on the morning of Easter Sunday 2019 at his Sunday Service Coachella event, with assistance from Ty Dolla $ign and the Sunday Service choir.
  
  According to scientists, the average adult human body is around 57-60% water. When West debuted the song, it had different lyrics in which he explored the math of divinity.
  
  I know I might not be as perfect as Christ
  But, we're made up of 90 percent water
  Your love's water
  
  What West was saying was the 10% gap between the perfection of Christ and humans is the reason why people struggle. The Chicago rapper likely changed the lyric as people misinterpreted it as meaning human beings are made up of 90% water; 30% less than scientists believe.
• The song was inspired by a conversation Kanye and Ant Clemons were having with two others about Jesus. Clemons recalled to Complex:
  
  "Kanye was saying how he felt about being with Christ. He felt like we should be fluid as water. He was spitting the lines out in conversation. Kanye's like, 'Take the chlorine out of our conversation.' And I'm like, 'That's a Kanye West bar if I've ever heard it in my life.'"