Lying in the Hands of God...

[MistreatedLewis]

Originally Posted by Pills&Soap

It may be my favorite song since 2000 period.

It's up there but I might still give that nod to You and Me right now...

[MistreatedLewis]

Originally Posted by The Lado

I agree, the fav. off the album. Seems to be the one that keeps getting the repeat button.

The one line I like the most if, "If you never flew why would you, cut the wings off a butterfly."

To me, the lyrics tell how people try to bring someone down experiencing joy when the person inflicting the pain has never felt happiness before and doesn't understand what it feels like.

If your life has been hard and troubling, why hurt someone who is happy?

.02


D.

Could be. Also just hurting someone who is different than you. Did Dave have gay marriage in mind? I kind of think so...

[kydmb99]

Originally Posted by MistreatedLewis

It's up there but I might still give that nod to You and Me right now...

You and Me?

I'm going to guess You and Me = Baby Blue.

[MistreatedLewis]

Originally Posted by kydmb99

You and Me?

I'm going to guess You and Me = Baby Blue.

BRAIN FART!

Sorry yes I was just talking about You and Me, but I meant baby Blue here. Y&M is my second least fav on the album.

[KitKatRaven41]

Originally Posted by MistreatedLewis

I'm starting to think this might be the best live song the band has debuted since 2000.

Anyone with me?

im with ya...and shake me sounded alot better SPAC N2..that will be up there as well

[HolyCow]

Originally Posted by MistreatedLewis

It's up there but I might still give that nod to You and Me right now...

I'm surprised you like You and Me that much.

I also enjoy it very much.

[MistreatedLewis]

Originally Posted by HolyCow

I'm surprised you like You and Me that much.

I also enjoy it very much.

check two posts below

[lieinmygrave41]

love this song, but jeff still can't do that riff like roi does during "faster until i'm choking"

Its still my favorite song on the album though.

[GoLdpHiShDMB]

this is one of many amazing songso n the cd. this fresh material has been makin me a happy person lately~!!!!

[HolyCow]

Originally Posted by MistreatedLewis

check two posts below

Oh. Haha. Oops.

[JLynhurst]

I get the impression that there is much more of an agnostic or even aetheistic theme being explored in this song than has been said in this thread. Every time I listen to the song, I imagine that "I'll be right here lying in the hands of god" refers to anyone lying in the hands of someone they love, a friend, family member, wife, or husband. And that person is doing so rather than buying into ideologies of fear that come from most prist's or pastors mouth, as if to say, "I am not afarid to live, I don't have to wait for the next life to love. There are plenty of ways to find god here in my everday life."

Anyway, that's just my interpration of the chorus. I haven't thought through the rest of the lyrics like some of the better posts on the thread.

[kitkatjaminTK]

this song is the best song on the cd. hands down.

[Big Hard Sun]

Originally Posted by MistreatedLewis

Could be. Also just hurting someone who is different than you. Did Dave have gay marriage in mind? I kind of think so...

I tend to think of it as Dave's helpless apology to god and why he can't believe so quickly and blindly. Or it might be a love song about opening your mind. I kind of like the fact that we all can't pin point what it's about, but we can enjoy the beautiful imagery and lyrics.

[JonahB41]

isn't it nice to hear dave write something new where the meaning isn't painfully explicit? beautiful tune

[inmytree]

Originally Posted by MistreatedLewis

Could be. Also just hurting someone who is different than you. Did Dave have gay marriage in mind? I kind of think so...

Wow, that's a great thought...the lyrics really could be read from the point of view of a gay man/woman who wants to marry his or her partner (or really anyone suffering from prejudice like that). Save your sermons for someone that's afraid to love, I'll be right here lying in the hands of God. Many in the religious right damn and demean what those marriages could be and mean, so he says to save your breath, because God is on my side and the side of this relationship.

[made2heal]

Originally Posted by JLynhurst

I get the impression that there is much more of an agnostic or even aetheistic theme being explored in this song than has been said in this thread. Every time I listen to the song, I imagine that "I'll be right here lying in the hands of god" refers to anyone lying in the hands of someone they love, a friend, family member, wife, or husband. And that person is doing so rather than buying into ideologies of fear that come from most prist's or pastors mouth, as if to say, "I am not afarid to live, I don't have to wait for the next life to love. There are plenty of ways to find god here in my everday life."

Anyway, that's just my interpration of the chorus. I haven't thought through the rest of the lyrics like some of the better posts on the thread.

I had a similar idea about the song to. It's like god is already all around us, it doesn't expect us to pray for every little thing, as long as you do good and look out for others, god is appreciative for that. Yikes, maybe the god thing is a little too deep to get into.

[inmytree]

Much more than the music, I agree with those who say that this is the lyrics by Dave on this album most reminiscent of earlier work, particularly UTTAD. He hasn't really written something in so ambiguous a manner since before BTCS; even those songs were pretty clear in what they were trying to say, if not always specific about their subject. This song seems to have dozens of interpretations, and they all make sense to me; you'd have to go back to Crash or even earlier to find that.

[Semper454]

Originally Posted by MistreatedLewis

Could be. Also just hurting someone who is different than you. Did Dave have gay marriage in mind? I kind of think so...

This thought hit me just a minute ago as I was listening to the song. I looked up the thread to post this exact thing and saw this post from yesterday.

It lines up pretty perfectly. You can take the song for what you will, but I think this has gotta be what Dave was going for in these lyrics.

[Semper454]

It's Dave's response to opponents of gay marriage. Go through it with that in mind, and most of it's not even that ambiguous.


Baby i'll be your soldier
Gladly i'll do your bidding
For just a taste of what you're holding
For just a taste you could own me

The singer is willing to fight for something 'you're holding,' for love, essentially

Save your sermons for someone thats afraid to love
I'll be right here lying in the hands of god

Preach to the violent people or the bitter people, not to people in love. 'Lying in the hands of god,' referring to the singer waiting for god's judgement, as opposed to accepting someone else's judgement of his life.

Here it comes dive right into me
Now the floor is the ceiling
If you never flew why would you?
Cut the wings off a butterfly

Dave has used being dizzy or confused, 'the floor is the ceiling,' to symbolize love in several songs. The singer is in love, why would so many people who've never been in love prevent someone who is from carrying that out?

Save your sermons for someone thats afraid to love
If you knew what I feel then you couldnt be so sure
I'll be right here lying in the hands of god

Same as before, with another obvious line in between

If you feel angels in your hair
Teardrops of joy run down your face
You will rise

Again, back to the religious part. To 'rise' is to go to heaven, or whatever Dave's opinion on that might be in this case. Basically, it doesn't matter how others, religious people judge you, if you 'feel angels in your hair,' if you experience joy, you 'will rise.'

Filling me up now drain me
Skin begins to grow back slowly
Faster until I'm choking
I really should call my mother

This one is different. It's interesting that the previous stanza was so positive, and now this one is sorta nasty. Maybe contrasting the feeling of love with the way some homosexual people are treated? I dunno what the the 'mother' line is about. I still think that's way out of place.

Save your sermons for someone thats afraid to love
If you knew what I feel then you couldnt be so sure
I'll be right here lying in the hands of god
If you feel angels in your hair

I am in love with nothing else
Teardrops of joy run off my face
I will rise for someone that's afraid to love
If you knew what I feel then you couldnt be so sure
I'll be right here lying in the hands of god

Now the floor is the ceiling
If you never flew why would you

All the same as before, though the 'I am in love with nothing else,' and 'If you knew what I feel,' lines are pretty overt.


There you have it. I feel like there's something deeper to the 'mother' stanza. I'll have to stew on that. But that's gotta be what Dave was trying to get across.

[jamband1]

One way to explain the "really should call my mother" line fits in with the proposed "drug song" theme:

In the movie trainspotting, the character's heroin dealer is nicknamed "Mother Superior." If we assume that whole "skin begins to grow back" stanza is about a drug user coming down, then he could be wanting to call his mother/dealer to buy more drugs.

Just throwin' that out there.

[kydmb99]

I love the lyrics to this song... regardless of what they are about.

[z28snksknr]

Originally Posted by dmbjdc6

I have no idea what it means to Dave, but as soon as I read the lyrics every single line made a ton of sense to me. Here is what I get out of the lyrics. But I think the great thing about this song is there are so many ways to take it.

To me, it is about religion. It is about the disconnect between love and the bible bashing sermons taught in church. It is like he is saying that the pastors or priests don't even understand the love that is suppose to be the foundation of thier religion. The narrator seems to really understand this love but is unsure about much else.

The first verse:
Baby I'll be your soldier/Gladly I'll do your bidding/ for just a taste of what you're holding/ for just a taste you could own me.

This verse to me is the narrator talking to God. It is wierd to refer to God as baby, but it makes sense to me. He is saying that he would basically do anything for what he is holding which is a very fulfilling love. With just a taste of it God could own him.

chorus:
Save your sermons for someone that's afriad to love./ if you knew what I feel then you couldn't be so sure./ I'll be right here lying in the hands of God.

This chorus I veiw the narrator talking to the priests and pastors, basically saying they can tell someone else what to do, because he is only interested in lying in the hands of God. With my interpretation of the first verse, this means he is interested in the love that God is holding. Wanting what God is holding in the first verse and then later lying in the hands of God is consistent in desire and action in this interpretation. In the chorus it also seems like he is saying that if the the pastors and priests had experienced and felt the love he felt, they would be a lot less sure in their black and white sermons.

next:
Here it comes diving into me. now the floor is the ceiling/if you never flew why would you cut the wings off a butterfly.

During the first part the narrator is desciribing the love transforming him. Almost as if he could see it coming from a distance. The foor is the ceiling is a great way to describe how such a powerful love makes the things that seemed to matter so much mean so little after experiencing the love. The second part the narrator is talking to the priests agian. He is saying if they never experienced this love why would they withhold it from others as if that is what their sermons are doing.

next:
If you feel angels in your head/ teardrop of joy runs down your face./ you will rise

This verse it seems he is describing the love again and what it does to him.

next:
Fill me up now drain me./ skin begins to grow back slowly/ faster untill i'm choking/ I really should call my mother.

This verse seems to describe the transformation the love. It is something new, strange, life altering. I like the last line in this verse a lot.

next:
I am in love with nothing less/ teardrops of joy run off my face./ I will rise.

This seems to be describing how he won't settle for anything less than the love that is in the hands of god.

If you every time that I mention love in this interpretation you replace it with a very spiritual type drug, then I think this exact same interpretation would work.

Hope this made sense to someone.

This is my take completely. I would only add to it that I think this is about Dave giving into the beliefs he has struggled with and letting his resistance melt away. Since he was raised a Quaker, I think the line "I really should call my mother" means that he wants her to know he has found God again since she would understand it the best.

I know alot of people quote Dave's agnostic blurbs, but this may just be a case of him singing from a "narrator" point of view. It's just too blatant and heartfelt to not think he (the narrator) is giving himself up to God.

[ShakingMonkey]

^^^^^ This is spot on.

[coldengrey12]

Does anyone have a guess why he doesn't sing "If you knew what I feel then you couldn't be so sure" during the first reading of the chorus?

To me, it almost makes the subsequent passes a response to the first chorus, as if he's saying "look, I said it once and I know what you're thinking, but you're wrong."

[seekupchuck]

Originally Posted by Semper454

It's Dave's response to opponents of gay marriage. Go through it with that in mind, and most of it's not even that ambiguous.


Baby i'll be your soldier
Gladly i'll do your bidding
For just a taste of what you're holding
For just a taste you could own me

The singer is willing to fight for something 'you're holding,' for love, essentially

Save your sermons for someone thats afraid to love
I'll be right here lying in the hands of god

Preach to the violent people or the bitter people, not to people in love. 'Lying in the hands of god,' referring to the singer waiting for god's judgement, as opposed to accepting someone else's judgement of his life.

Here it comes dive right into me
Now the floor is the ceiling
If you never flew why would you?
Cut the wings off a butterfly

Dave has used being dizzy or confused, 'the floor is the ceiling,' to symbolize love in several songs. The singer is in love, why would so many people who've never been in love prevent someone who is from carrying that out?

Save your sermons for someone thats afraid to love
If you knew what I feel then you couldnt be so sure
I'll be right here lying in the hands of god

Same as before, with another obvious line in between

If you feel angels in your hair
Teardrops of joy run down your face
You will rise

Again, back to the religious part. To 'rise' is to go to heaven, or whatever Dave's opinion on that might be in this case. Basically, it doesn't matter how others, religious people judge you, if you 'feel angels in your hair,' if you experience joy, you 'will rise.'

Filling me up now drain me
Skin begins to grow back slowly
Faster until I'm choking
I really should call my mother

This one is different. It's interesting that the previous stanza was so positive, and now this one is sorta nasty. Maybe contrasting the feeling of love with the way some homosexual people are treated? I dunno what the the 'mother' line is about. I still think that's way out of place.

Save your sermons for someone thats afraid to love
If you knew what I feel then you couldnt be so sure
I'll be right here lying in the hands of god
If you feel angels in your hair

I am in love with nothing else
Teardrops of joy run off my face
I will rise for someone that's afraid to love
If you knew what I feel then you couldnt be so sure
I'll be right here lying in the hands of god

Now the floor is the ceiling
If you never flew why would you

All the same as before, though the 'I am in love with nothing else,' and 'If you knew what I feel,' lines are pretty overt.


There you have it. I feel like there's something deeper to the 'mother' stanza. I'll have to stew on that. But that's gotta be what Dave was trying to get across.

righty oh!

[NextMovement41]

This song jumped out at my from first listen, its pure bliss. Tim's acoustic solo fits so well, I love it.

[BigEyedFerg]

Amazing live song, but it hurts to think how jawdroppingly beautiful it would have been live if Roi could tear it a new asshole on stage

[Jan-Willem]

Originally Posted by MistreatedLewis

BRAIN FART!

Sorry yes I was just talking about You and Me, but I meant baby Blue here. Y&M is my second least fav on the album.

OMG

If only you made this mistake with Angel and Ants Marching. I'd be laughing my ass off all day long...

[chrisandiego]

I love this song. Over 1 month and counting... can't get enough of it!

[BrettMatthews]

Originally Posted by chrisandiego

I love this song. Over 1 month and counting... can't get enough of it!

have you seen this already?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0MjXfC_OTU