Belief
Makes things real
Makes things feel
Feel alright
Belief

Makes things true
Things like you
You and I
Tonight, you arrested my mind
When you came to my defense
With a knife
In the shape of your mouth
In the form of your body
With the wrath of a god
Oh, you stood by me
Belief

Builds from scratch
Doesn't have to relax
It doesn't need space
Long live the queen
And I'll be the king
In the collar of grace
Tonight, you arrested my mind
When you came to my defense
With a knife
In the shape of your mouth
In the form of your body
With the wrath of a god
Oh, you stood by me
Belief

I'm going to yell it
From the rooftops
I'll wear a sign on my chest
That's the least I can do
Tonight, you arrested my mind
Tonight, you arrested my mind
When you came to my defense
With a knife
In the shape of your mouth
In the form of your body
With the wrath of a god
Oh, you stood by me
And I'll stand by me
Belief



Lyrics submitted by BlueAndStarry

Track duration: 04:27

"Belief" as written by Gavin Degraw

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Belief song meanings
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28 Comments

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  • -1
    General Comment:I love dis-ambiguous lyrics because they can be so universal. For instants, based on a couple of lines, samdoubt thinks that the song is about Christianity and masterofmeaning thinks it's about rough kinky sex, however the entire rest of the song doesn't fit either thesis entirely. Perhaps Gavin DID know that scripture and decided to use it symbolically, or both the scripture and his reference are meant to be taken symbolically as others have mentioned. Another possibility is that he was making a play on words on a deeper level saying that this person is his religion.
    Too quickly you so-called Christians hear a couple lyrics from a song and thing that that person is secretly a fellow Christian when most of the time they are not and even wear symbols just to mock their Christian followers. Just because they "believe in god" does not mean that they are followers of Christ. After all, they could be Diests or worship another kind of god. "You will know them by their fruits." That is pretty much universal.

    Here's another thought. Everyone who has posted assumes that he is talking about a female in the song, but has it ever occurred to you that he could be talking about a male? The only gender reference in the song is "Long live the Queen and I'll be the King in the collar of grace."

    He could be saying,"I will treat you like a queen and I will only be your equal if you allow me to be, or the "Queen" could be a homosexual reference with the aforementioned connotations. I tried to google "Collar of Grace" and couldn't find any phrasal references.

    From "Tonight you arrested my heart when you came to my defense with a knife in the shape of your mouth in the form of your body with the wrath of a god" I agree that he's saying, "Tonight you captivated my heart when you stood up for me and told those people off and beat them up with a fury. You showed me how much you care and validated our relationship."
    In the next verse he is really falling for this person, but the person thinks that they are rushing things, so he is reassuring them that he'll do whatever it takes to prove himself to them. He's so in love that it's just bubbling up and he wants to tell everyone about it.

    I don't think that the song is simply about a friendship because friends don't "need space" from each other. At any rate, this is one of my favorite songs from Chariot. I don't much care for the album version because it's too fast, and the stripped version is good, but there is an acoustic version that is my favorite of the three. He really pours his heart out in that one and it sounds even more incredible.
    Flag leonicdragonon August 01, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Everytime i hear the chorus,
    "Tonight, you arrested my mind
    When you came to my defense
    With a knife in the shape of your mouth
    In the form of your body
    With the wrath of a god
    Oh, you stood by me"
    I can't help but think that someone's hurting him. The persons mouth was in the shape of a knife, in the form of the persons body. I take that as him being hurt by words.
    It doesn't make sense with the rest of the song, but I like to believe that's what that one part means.
    Flag mel29821on July 03, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:obviously belief.
    and standing up for those you love :)
    Flag waffle22on May 03, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i agree.
    i think the title basically says it all.
    its aboutt belief. :]
    Flag YouArrestedMyMindon April 06, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song to me is just about faith. Specifically, one's own defenition of faith...in this song, it can include a defenition of faith involving God, but it doesn't have to, and here it seems to be just in the context of faith through a friend. Faith and belief makes the things you are unsure of real to you and gives you support to live life with. I love "Belief makes things real Makes things feel Feel alright Belief makes things true Things like you You and I"
    and "Belief builds from scratch Doesn't need to relax It doesn't need space." the latter quote is good to remember in a hectic life-- like if you rely on your faith to keep you sane, you don't need to be constantly stressed out by trying to adjust yourself to everyone else.
    Flag laxgirl6on November 24, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i love this song. but the "With a knife in the shape of your mouth,In the form of your body.." is the only thing that annoys me in this song. i dont completely understand it.
    Flag hellosunshine.on April 09, 2007   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:Why is it that intolerant christians like samdoubt try to make everything about their god? Why must they try to make everything about their religion?

    How can they see condemning all non-believers to BURN IN HELL as "good news"?

    I don't see hateful intolerance of non-believers to be anything but bad.
    Flag collegeguy666on January 21, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:as many have said earlier,
    i think this song is about having a person believe in you and really inspire you. and it changes meaning for whomever hears it, it could be anyone... just as long as they truly believe and have faith in you.

    i love gavin degraw.
    Flag ninaluvsallon August 29, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think the whole "with a knife in the shape of your mouth" part is about how this person's words were sharp and painful (hence the knife) when she stuck up for him. not painful to him but to the other person or thing
    Flag trixiepix_797on August 26, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:gavin just rox! I love his lyrical genious. this song is a tribute to anyone who has ever stood by and stood up for anyone or anything..for anyone who
    BELIEVES.
    Flag birminghamhottieon June 28, 2006   Link

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