Lyrics for To Be Alone with You as interpreted by vwkeychain

To Be Alone with You Lyrics
I'd swim across Lake Michigan
I'd sell my shoes
I'd give my body to be back again
In the rest of the room
To be alone with you
To be alone with you
To be alone with you
To be alone with you

You gave your body to the lonely
They took your clothes
You gave up a wife and a family
You gave your ghost
To be alone with me
To be alone with me
To be alone with me
You went up on a tree

To be alone with me
You went up on a tree

I've never known a man who loved me

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  • 124 Comments
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CaughtInTheSun14
11-11-2004

Rated 0 
I love this song.

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allthearmsweneed
11-19-2004

Rated 0 
is it about a gay guy or...? it's an awesome song but i'm so confused what it's actually about

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BrainDamage
11-19-2004

Rated +1 
It's about Jesus.

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drowningnoah
11-22-2004

Rated -1 
if you like this song, check out 'diamond ring' by pedro the lion

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1 Reply
PemberleyTea
01-01-2005

Rated 0 
It is about Jesus, Allthearmsweneed. On the cross, Jesus showed the perfect example of what love is. The cross provides access to God. There is no other way we could even pray to God without having a relationship with Christ - a believe and faith in Him. When Sufjan says "They took your clothes" , it is describing when the Roman soldiers took Jesus' clothes right before He was crucified (see Romans 19:23-24).

In response to the line "You gave up a wife and a family" , Sufjan is trying to talk about the humanity of Christ. He was both fully human and fully God (see John 10:30). Hebrews 4:15 says that Jesus was tempted in -every- way - therefore He was tempted sexually, but He never sinned. A lot of times people have a picket-fence house dream of a family with 2.5 children and a dog and a cat, but Jesus chose a much harder life. And for one reason - to accompliish salvation for those who would believe in Him.

In response to "You gave up your ghost", Sufjan speaks of the Holy Spirit. Because of the finished work on the cross, Christians have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

"The tree" is another word for the cross since it was made out of the wood from trees.

Allthearmsweneed, I hope this helps to relieve your confusion.

For His Glory,
PemberleyTea
Colossians 1:19

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gummidemilo
01-13-2005

Rated +1 
PemberleyTea, go to hell.

Yes, it's about Jesus. A turn off generally when it comes to music, but Sufjan has a way of keeping it introspective, artistic and personal that doesn't alienate us good, Christianity-shunning secularists.

This song is gorgeous.

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noonesown
02-23-2005

Rated 0 
haha. gummi, you rock..

and. yeah.. it's a beautiful song. i dunno. sufjan's simply amazing. can't get enough of it..

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a town like paris
03-02-2005

Rated 0 
I agree with gummi; all of her three paragraphs.

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thegirlmostlovely
03-06-2005

Rated 0 
it's definitely about jesus. but it is beautiful anyhow.

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beulahrawk
03-17-2005

Rated 0 
Ouch gummi, PemberleyTea did offer some good insight on the meaning of a couple lines in the song, mind you. I agree with your last two paragraphs, though. Absolutely gorg. For me, a Christian, knowing that this song is about Jesus opens up a deeper connection with the lyrics which in turn allows me to enjoy the song even more. I find the last line, "I've never met a man who loved me" very intriguing. It could mean one of two things, depending on perspective.

1) Sufjan saying "I've never met a man who loved me.." except for Jesus.
2) Jesus saying "I've never met a man who loved me." But he loved man anyway.

That's my take.

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1 Reply
jenazabab
04-01-2005

Rated 0 
When I first read the lyrics I knew it was about Jesus. It's about his Passion.

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jenazabab
04-02-2005

Rated 0 
Actually I'm not quite sure if it's about Jesus anymore. Jesus didn't have a wife or a family, but most of the song portrays Jesus. I'm just not quite sure!

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2 Replies
ILYhahajk
04-05-2005

Rated 0 
Hahaha.

Whether or not people like it, Sufjan wrote a song about, yes, HIS BELIEFS.

I love it.

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Nimbus the Kitten
04-13-2005

Rated -1 
jenazabab, Of course jesus didn't have a wife and a family; he gave the possibility of it up.

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a town like paris
04-22-2005

Rated 0 
It\'s about Jesus. I wish he was singing about a woman; I could have made good use of this song on mixtapes that way.

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Walty
05-03-2005

Rated 0 
first of all gummidemilo, you should really think before you talk here. PemberleyTea was telling you what the song is about. Im sorry you are so hostile towards Christian music but you shouldnt forget that this man whose music you love so much is one of the most devout christians you will ever meet.

Second of all PemberleyTea if you ever see this, I was wondering if you knew about any other good Christian music like Sufjan. Everything else out there that I have heard of is horrible.

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Raving Lunatic
05-07-2005

Rated 0 
Walty, Sufjan works a lot with another Christian band called Danielson Famile. He's also got a record label called Asthmatic Kitty that has a couple other Christian type artists, including Half-Handed Cloud. I've never listened to any of these artists, so I can't vouch for how good they are. I just know they are not like most Christian bands and they are affiliated with Sufjan in some way. I'm not even Christian myself.

Nice, Gummi.

Sufjan's coming out with another album this summer, this time on the state of Illinois. If you want to hear a song from it go to www.pitchforkmedia.com and click on the free downloads link in the upper right. The song Chicago from his new CD is available for download there. I think it's great, though it's not like anything from Seven Swans.

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snowflakerepose
06-25-2005

Rated 0 
I don't see what's nice about Gummi, who elucidated nothing. Why react harshly over strong Christian views that are probably similar to Sufjan's?

Walty- I was raised Christian and I was only allowed to listen to Christian music for a lot of my younger years. Some of the artists I found were good and even though I'm not Christian anymore I still listen to them. Pedro the Lion, Over the Rhine, Jennifer Knapp, and Sixpence None the Richer produce literate and innovative Christian music, though not quite of Sufjan's quality.

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shit soup
07-13-2005

Rated 0 
I'm almost pissed I know every single detail about this song because of pemberlyfuckmetea. I like a little mysetery and little of my own perspective and meaning.

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blackemma
07-14-2005

Rated 0 
I like how he used the bit about the tree. 'And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre' (Acts 13:29). I always thought it was an interesting metaphor for crucifixion...

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windmills221b
07-17-2005

Rated 0 
I think the biggest problem with christian music in general is that it feels like it's just people patting themselves on the back saying "good job! we're christian so we'll write songs about jesus"

this seems different, however. as the bible passages that have been cited have proved, there's a strong christian connection (but given how much of the bible there is, it seems possible to give almost any line, especially ones so vague, a christian slant). yet there's something about the christian explanation of the song that bothers me: the third and fourth lines. I dunno, they seem to suggest to me that he's somehow lost his connection. that he'd swim across lake michigan to be alone with the big J again. like it's a trial of faith rather than a pure devotional song.

and to wrap this ramble up with my initial thought, that feeling is so disparate from, to use a example from the bottom of the barrel, apologetix's abomination "come out and pray". It doesn't scream we're better than you, it simply invites you to sit next to it a while and see what happens.

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NiQ
07-17-2005

Rated 0 
I think that the first verse isnt saying, he lost his faith, it's saying he had a major Spiritual experience(like if youve ever gone too a great Church Camp, and heard an awesomely Spiriual messagethat made you break down, or something...) and he's saying he'd give anything to do that again, to be alone with him again.

Have a grand eveening.

GODBLESS

-Nicholas

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sublimeownsmylife
08-11-2005

Rated 0 
i dont get why he says to be alone with you. why does he want to be alone with jesus

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slinkstersars
08-15-2005

Rated 0 
I think this is such a beautiful song, and to realize that it is about Jesus, makes it even more beautiful. I haven't heard someone sing about Jesus in such a painfully beautiful way before. It is just beautiful.

sublime guy,
who doesn't want to be alone with Jesus? Spirtual Connection. You know.

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1 Reply
lichty
08-26-2005

Rated 0 
It seems like the first part of the song is from the viewpoint of jesus and the second, mary m. and they are speaking to each other. Keep in mind, that nearly all men back then were married, which means jesus probably was too. There are many who say that mary m. was his wife, and many who say he was single and without a family. For this interpretation, i am going with the former. It seems like mary m. is upset and questioning jesus' love for her but realizes he wasn't truly a man, but the son of god.

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