It could be inferred by some versions of the song that the swagman didn't commit suicide, merely that he died trying to get away. He wouldn't have been the first "outlaw" who drowned attempting to flee the law.

The line "You'll never catch me alive" doesn't always imply a willingness for suicide either. At least in the time of guns, many gangsters would say that to let the law know that a gun fight would be the ultimate end of any pursuit. Maybe it implys a willingness to die, but few turned the weapon upon themselves.


The folk ensemble I used to sing with always sang this song at the local homeless shelter durning dinner once a month. No one but me got the sad irony of singing a some about a homeless man who dies a tragic death to 500 homeless men.