Lyrics for In Exile as interpreted by faithinthethief

In Exile Lyrics
In Exile

I am an exile, a sojourner
A citizen of some other place
All I've seen is just a glimmer in just a shadowy mirror
But I know one day we'll see face to face

I am a nomad, a wanderer
I have nowhere to lay my head down
There's no point in putting roots to deep when I'm moving on
Not settling for this unsettling town

My heart is filled with songs of forever
A city that endures, where all is made new
And no I don't belong here
I'll never call this place my home
I'm just passing through

I am a pilgrim, a voyager
I won't rest until my lips touch the shore
Of the land that I've been longing for as long as I've lived
Where there'll be no pain or tears anymore

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crowleyyy
07-25-2009

Rated 0 
I think this is the obligatory song on the album about being on the road and being tired of it. Still good.

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1 Reply
Etreum
07-26-2009

Rated +2 
In my opinon..... This song is about life on earth and how nothing is guaranteed or permanent. How its best not to get too involved due to this just being a path on the road to a greater/better place. i.e. heaven.

"But i know one day we'll see face to face"
"A city that endures, where all is made new"
"I won't rest until my lips touch the shore"
"Of the land that I've been longing for as long as I've lived"
"Where there'll be no pain or tears anymore"

Sounds like heaven to me. By the way i got to meet these guys at Warped Tour 2009 and they are freaking AMAZING! Favorite band for near 5 years now and i don't think it will ever change.

-BEGGARS IS FREAKING AMAZING! Definitely more mellow than previous albums but the lyricism flows so well with the music its ridonculous.

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2 Replies
lotsofface
07-26-2009

Rated 0 
This song is definitely about an afterlife. I love this album.

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auhsoj3
07-27-2009

Rated 0 
ummmmm
doesnt matter what its about.
music is music and you should just enjoy it lol.
thrice is the most magnificent band ever
no questions.
this song just proves how well they can mix their own work in a new way.
brava thrice

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2 Replies
ihatehatehaters
07-29-2009

Rated 0 
aushoj3, if it is only about the music and it doesn't matter what it is about, then why have lyrics at all? I find that a really odd opinion from someone who claims that Thrice is their favorite band.

I think you guys are spot on with the afterlife interpretation. Good work. One thing I really like about the song is that it has a very lonely and absent feel to it. The lyrics and the music really go well together here.

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auhsoj3
07-30-2009

Rated 0 
thatwas just an out of the way comment
not really sure why i said it lol
dustins lyrics inspire me in an enormous way
the haunting cry of dustin in this song is incredible and passionate.
since dustin is a strong christian this song is definately about heaven.
look up what he said about his inspiration for beggars.
again i apologize for the comment before. lyrics are everything.
cant wait for the cd

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1 Reply
marvin-martian
07-30-2009

Rated +1 
i feel this song is night driving if it had lyrics

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auhsoj3
08-01-2009

Rated 0 
sort of.....
night diving has more of an ethereal feel to it.
just like all of water and most of the air cd.

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akburton
08-04-2009

Rated 0 
Little confused as to how anyone would think this song is about heaven. Thats quite the reach IMO.
Seems much more like a on the road type of song or just a semi-story of someone stuck somewhere they don't want to be. If there is more symbolism in this song than the obvious, it's not apparent or artistic in the least.

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TrendyKidsSuck
08-06-2009

Rated 0 
reminds me of the Isrealites in the desert for forty years. For FORTY years those people were looking for a place that had been promised to them by a leader who died even before he could see it (Moses). They had nowhere to call home, and they were just wandering. These lines in particular remind me of it.

I am a pilgrim, a voyager
I won't rest until my lips touch the shore
Of the land that I've been longing for as long as I've lived
Where there'll be no pain or tears anymore

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mast0d0n
08-07-2009

Rated 0 
this isn't a song i'd expect from thrice but i'm really digging it, and the whole new album so far.

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1 Reply
auhsoj3
08-09-2009

Rated +1 
WTF!!!
this song is completely about heaven. read the lyrics through several times
hes basically saying that he's only on earth for a short while until he goes to heaven where there is no pain or sorrow.
he's just passing through as he says
though im no christian i love how dustin writes so passionately about the bible and his beliefs.


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2 Replies
FireSermon
08-11-2009

Rated +2 
This song *is* about heaven, drawing heavily upon the Bible and St. Augustine's "City of God."

"I am an exile, a sojourner
A citizen of some other place."

In the opening chapter of "City of God", Augustine mentions the Christian as a sojourning stranger in the midst of the ungodly.

"All I've seen is just a glimmer in just a shadowy mirror
But I know one day we'll see face to face."

This is a reference to Cor. 13:12: " For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known."

"I am a nomad, a wanderer
I have nowhere to lay my head down
There's no point in putting roots to deep when I'm moving on
Not settling for this unsettling town"

This is just a reiteration of the first two lines. The last line - "Not settling for this unsettling town" - is a stroke of genius, though, referring to the fallen world.

"My heart is filled with songs of forever
A city that endures, where all is made new"

The city of God, according to Augustine, is eternal, in contrast with the city of the world, which is temporal.

"And no I don't belong here
I'll never call this place my home
I'm just passing through"

John 18: The Christian is *in* the world, but not *of* the world.

"I am a pilgrim, a voyager
I won't rest until my lips touch the shore
Of the land that I've been longing for as long as I've lived
Where there'll be no pain or tears anymore"

This is classic Christian eschatology - it ends on a note of hope and salvation.

*Phew.*


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1 Reply
InToThEaIrWaVeS7-11
08-12-2009

Rated 0 
I think this is definitely about the afterlife. and "being in but not of the world."
Coming from a Christian perspective of the earth is not our home, this life is temporary..
I'm really loving this song.

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brooks450
08-14-2009

Rated 0 
thanks, firesermon :)

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russellcp
08-15-2009

Rated 0 
Spot on with the City of God reference.

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millym09
08-23-2009

Rated 0 
i too think this song is about heaven, but doesnt the drum beat at the beggining remind you of the sound your blinker makes?

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kman22
08-25-2009

Rated 0 
FireSermon hit the nail on the head, I'm glad I didn't have to type all that out. To add to it as even more proof though, was his reference to Paul in Hebrews 13:14 "For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come." Also, the New Testament refers to what Jesus accomplished in his death as him making all things new again. Other than that, FireSermon covered all the other bases. How could anyone read the line "My heart is filled with songs of forever" and not think he is directly referring to eternity...or forever.

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kit1020
08-28-2009

Rated 0 
This song reminds me of Ryoga Hibiki from Ranma 1/2 :)

haha I didn't think the god thing till later. kinda ruined it for me :(
I believe in god i just don't like mixing my faith and my music.

oh and it makes me want to wander. hahaha i like simplicity.

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1 Reply
filref
10-21-2009

Rated +2 
OK. It seems pretty obvious to me what this song is talking about. Dustin reads a lot of christian philosophy. We've seen references to Kierkegaard in other songs (mesenger) and arguably others.

This song is about or inspired by St.Augustine's " The City of God".

In the City of God, Augustine talk about being a citizen of the city of man, or citizen of the city of God. The citizen of the City of God has higher priorities than to listen and abide by the state and mundane trivilaities that go with it. His dedication is in the city of God- that of the eternal realm.in a sense he is talking about an afterlife; it's implied. But the point is that his mission and service is that of God and Jesus Christ rather than what we are so often occupied with these days. st. Augustine is a neo-platonist, so another way to look at this is by looking at Socrates- how he was able to renounce to everything, money, a home, and eventually life. He was a citizen of some other place.The eternal realm is the truth; the truth of God. The city of God is in that "realm".

"songs of forever"
"city that endures, where all is made new" (forgiveness , love, hope; these are the prime values of the city of God)

Amazing song. Amazing lyrics.

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Thricefold
10-29-2009

Rated 0 
Earth is not his home, he is merely passing through. His home is the eternal afterlife (heaven for him).

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ChristServantnotReligious
10-31-2009

Rated +2 
To my fellow Thrice fans,
the first time I heard these lyrics, I knew exactly what it was talking about because I read the bible, and can tell you Dustin Kensrue is a Christian, and no, he's not religious. Religion is just man's attempt to get to heaven apart from Christ. (Dustin doesn't come right out and say that he's a Christian, and I think it's because he wants to appeal to all audiences, and still use his music as his ministry to share the Word. Praise the Lord!)

So check out these scriptures that I've posted and you'll see how the song relates to them:

The first verse is from Philippians 3:20 and 1 Corinthians 13:12. Here's the verse, and then the scripture beneath it.

I am an exile, a sojourner
A citizen of some other place
All I've seen is just a glimmer in just a shadowy mirror
But I know one day we'll see face to face

Philippian 3:20 "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,"

1 Corinthians 13:12
"Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity."

Here's the next verses correspond with these scriptures:
I am a nomad, a wanderer
I have nowhere to lay my head down
There's no point in putting roots to deep when I'm moving on
Not settling for this unsettling town

Luke 9:58 "And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

My heart is filled with songs of forever
A city that endures, where all is made new
And no I don't belong here
I'll never call this place my home
I'm just passing through

I am a pilgrim, a voyager
I won't rest until my lips touch the shore
Of the land that I've been longing for as long as I've lived
Where there'll be no pain or tears anymore

1 Peter 2:11 "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul."

Acts 7:6 "And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others"

John 15:9 "If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world"

Revelation 21:4 "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."



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RockPhotoStar
11-17-2009

Rated 0 

This song makes me think of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name."

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