SLOW MOTION SCIENCE!  Ferrofluid dropping on magnet

The explanation that the earth is falling towards the moon feels too dynamic to give me a sense of what's essentially a static state (high tide). My intuition is better appeased by considering the outer tide to be flung in a wider arc (orbit) around the gravity well because it is less attracted. It's a static explanation that doesn't require the fluid body (the earth) to change its distance from the gravity well (the moon).