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I will fight the spirit
With a sword in my side
She found a way out
Crack my rib
Wait to die
I think I know you best when I sleep
I think I know everything
Me and my brothers
We have tongues sharp as knives
I found a way out
Make a noise, close your eyes
I think I talk to you best when I sing
I sing about almost everything
Oh god I need it
So let me see again
Take me to the river
And let me see again
Oh my god
Let me see again
Oh my god
Let me see again
Let me see again
Grace taught her daughter
Daily on
God how I feel it
Fed her pride to your feet
I'm gonna leave you the first chance I get [4x]
Oh god I need it
I was wrong again
Take me to the river
And make me clean again
Oh my god
Make me clean again
And oh my god
Let me see again
Lyrics submitted by hobomclacey
Track duration: 05:59
"The River" as written by James Alan Hull
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, CHRYSALIS MUSIC GROUP
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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And gee, what a way out,
crack my rib, wait to die.
I think I know you the best when I sleep,
I think I know everything.
Me and my brothers, we have tongues,
as sharp as knives.
And I, found a way out,
Make a noise, close your eyes.
I think I talk to you best when I sing,
I sing about almost everything.
Oh god I need it,
so let me sing again,
take me to the river,
and let me see again.
Oh my god!
Let me see again,
Oh my god!
Let me see again,
let me see again!
Grace, taught her debtor,
Daily I'm , strained to be.
God, how I feel it,
fetter pride, to your feet.
I'm gonna leave you the first chance I get (X4)
And oh God I need it,
I was wrong again!
Take me to the river,
and make me clean again!
Oh my god!
Make me clean again!
And oh my god!
Let me see again!
22The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26Then he said, "Let me go, for the day has broken." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." 27And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." 28Then he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed." 29Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. 30So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered."
When he says "Cheat, what a way out," I don't think he's talking about himself; I think he's saying it to God. I find that a lot of Andy's lyrics are about spiritual struggle and doubt, and here he's allowing himself to be personified by Jacob. He wrestles with God to find answers, truth, etc. In the story in Genesis, Jacob doesn't overtake "the man," but doesn't give up, even after his bones have been broken. So when he says "Cheat, what a way out," I don't think he's actually talking about himself, but to God. He's frustrated that whatever he's wrestling with cannot be resolved.
This may be stretching it, but I think the next lines (I think I know you best when I sleep/I think I know everything) are still references to Jacob: both the dream Jacob has in Genesis 28, and also the arrogance Jacob recurrently shows throughout Genesis.
The line in verse 2 is definitely a play off of the Hymn "Come Thou Fount"
Original lyrics:
O to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.
Even the melody and the 3/4 time signature seems to be a play on this old song. You also see the lines "God (lord) I feel it"
and then when Andy sings "Im gonna leave you" it is hinting towards "Prone to wander"
I love this song! Such honesty coming from Andy, he knows all the Christian beliefs, but he knows how he has turned his back on God and you see it all throughout his lyrics.
The lyric on verse 2 is definitely "Constrained to to be"
As for the lyrics, I can relate to them. I see it as someone who doubted religion/God at some point and tried living without it. Only to realize they still talk, sing, and pray to God everyday. Now they want forgiveness for ever doubting that God was important/real to them.
Well now that you're home I can see again,
I can see again
Now that you're home I can see again,
God, I can see!
The confidence he seems to sing with in Now That You're Home seems to be lost in The River. I think it's interesting and goes back to what SinginSilence had to say about Andy's honesty. Andy is still discovering and learning about his faith, and sometimes he loses his once found sight.
Yeah not sure if that was coincidence or not, but that's what I thought about.