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I know where You stand, silent in the trees
And that's where I am, silent in the trees
Why won't You speak where I happen to be?
Silent in the trees, standing cowardly
I can feel Your breath
I can feel my death
I want to know You, I want to see
I want to say
Hello, hello
Hello, oh, hello
Da da, da da da, da-da
Da da, da da da, da-da
Da da, da da da, da-da
Da da, da da da, da-da
I know where You stand, silent in the trees
And that's where I am, silent in the trees
Why won't You speak where I happen to be?
Silent in the trees, standing cowardly
I can feel Your breath
I can feel my death
I want to know You, I want to see
I want to say
Hello (da da, da da da, da-da)
(Da da, da da da, da-da)
Hello (da da, da da da, da-da)
(Da da, da da da, da-da)
Hello, hello, hello, hello
(Da da, da da da, da-da)
(Da da, da da da, da-da)
Yeah (da da, da da da, da-da)
(Da da, da da da, da-da)
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Hello, hello (oh, oh)
Hello, hello (oh, oh)
And that's where I am, silent in the trees
Why won't You speak where I happen to be?
Silent in the trees, standing cowardly
I can feel Your breath
I can feel my death
I want to know You, I want to see
I want to say
Hello, hello
Hello, oh, hello
Da da, da da da, da-da
Da da, da da da, da-da
Da da, da da da, da-da
Da da, da da da, da-da
I know where You stand, silent in the trees
And that's where I am, silent in the trees
Why won't You speak where I happen to be?
Silent in the trees, standing cowardly
I can feel Your breath
I can feel my death
I want to know You, I want to see
I want to say
Hello (da da, da da da, da-da)
(Da da, da da da, da-da)
Hello (da da, da da da, da-da)
(Da da, da da da, da-da)
Hello, hello, hello, hello
(Da da, da da da, da-da)
(Da da, da da da, da-da)
Yeah (da da, da da da, da-da)
(Da da, da da da, da-da)
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Hello, hello (oh, oh)
Hello, hello (oh, oh)
Lyrics submitted by bookhouseboy23
Trees Lyrics as written by Tyler Joseph
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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To me this song is a prayer. I know it's hard for non-Christians to accept but stay with me here. You might just find a bit of yourself in this. This prayer is from a person who is feeling alone, as most of Tyler's songs are.
As Christians, we are taught that we are supposed to build a relationship with God. We are told that God hears all of our prayers.
However, it's obvious that while he was writing this song, Tyler felt disconnected from God, like God was standing just out of reach, leaving Tyler alone. I myself feel this often. That's why I relate to this song so much.
"Silent, in the trees." That's how God is described in this song. Tyler's lyrical metaphors are amazing. If you think about someone hiding in the trees, they would easily be able to see you, but would be hidden in shadow, and would be very hard to spot. The person in the trees would probably be purposefully avoiding contact with you. This is how Tyler feels God is toward him, watching, but choosing not to show himself. This is accurate for me personally. Whenever I try to talk to God, I don't get a response, and that's a bit frustrating to me. Prayer is supposed to be a conversation, and it takes two to have a conversation.
As for the part that says: "And that's where I am, silent, in the trees." Tyler is most likely alone at this point. But what really matters is that he is silent. He is alone with himself. Using knowledge from his other songs, especially Car Radio (which is a great song), we can infer what's going on here. In Car Radio, he says two important things that we need to remember for this song. "I ponder of something terrifying, cause this time there's no sound to hide behind." and "Oh dear, I don't know if we know why we're here; Oh my too deep please stop thinking." These two lyrics mean that when Tyler is in silence, his thoughts turn dark, and he is scared by them. He'll do anything to get rid of them, even stop thinking at all. It is likely that he would pray to God as an outlet for his emotions and a source of comfort.
He is scared by his thoughts, and his emotions almost overwhelm him; hence "I can feel my death." and "Why won't you speak where I happen to be? Silent, in the trees, standing cowardly." Tyler is close to the breaking point, alone with his thoughts. He is asking why God won't talk to him, even when he is at his weakest. He might even be fighting suicidal urges at this point.
So really this song is a prayer to God, asking him to just show himself already. Tyler is scared, and he is looking for a source of comfort and relief. He is frustrated by the fact that God won't respond to him, despite his faith. "I want to know you, I want to see, I want to say hello." Tyler isn't holding anything back here. He is giving his full being to God. But we don't get a happy ending like we do in Ode to Sleep. The song ends with Tyler calling out to God in his panic. Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Tyler doesn't get what he wants. He doesn't get a response. He is still alone at the end of the song.
This song really is lyrical genius. It makes me personally wonder what happened to make him keep his faith in God. I need one of those moments. Major props to Tyler for taking my most difficult thoughts and making it into music. And major props to him for surviving whatever he was going through to make him feel this scared. And to you reader, major props to you for surviving. Whatever your situation, the trees are never as lonely and scary as they seem. Despite my struggles with faith, I believe that God is there for us. And so does Tyler.
@Keeson This is awesome. Helped me a lot. Just wanted to say thanks :)
@Keeson this is a truly amazing interpretation of what you think trees means, and I agree with your theory
@Keeson one more thing that I think is important to note is that it seems like Tyler is not faulting God so much as he is imploring him. He knows where God is but he can't seem to find him. He is asking God to come to him so he can know him better and even just say hello. I feel like Tyler is being very picky with words and leaving the door open to say something like this: God is there and maybe he's trying to help Tyler find a way through the trees, he CAN see him after all. But maybe gods working in a different way than what Tyler is looking for at the moment.
@Keeson once i learned Tyler was raised a Christian, this song became pretty clear. you summed it up well. Prior to that, I thought he was calling the "person" in the trees a coward, but it's clear now he's the one standing as a coward. Any believer struggles with doubt. I've been there and prayed and prayed and prayed, hoping, begging to SEE Him, to hear Him. Prayer alone has never sufficed. It isn't until I'm in prayer AND reading the bible, thats where He is. He is the Word. A find my peace there with him.
@Keeson I agree with everything you said, but let me add just one little alternate theory to it. I think maybe he DOES feel God's presence at one point. I think when he says, "I can feel my death. I can feel your breath," he is actually communing with God.<br /> <br /> To explain:<br /> <br /> 1) "I can feel my death." <br /> <br /> In Christianity, we are called to "die" to ourselves and instead be filled with Christ. Galatians 2:20 describes it this way: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." Jesus himself said, "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, he is the one who will save it." Romans 6:8 says, "Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him." There are many, many more verses that reference laying aside your old life, and filling yourself instead with God.<br /> <br /> I believe that in "Trees," when Tyler is standing there alone in the silence, his arms outstretched, calling out to God, he can feel himself "dying to himself." That's why he says, "I can feel my death."<br /> <br /> 2) "I can feel your breath." <br /> <br /> God is often referred to in the Bible as "breath." Job 33:4 makes it clear: "The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life." <br /> <br /> I believe that in "Trees," when Tyler says "I can feel your breath," he is feeling the presence of God.<br /> <br /> And if you follow that line of reasoning, the "Hello"s that follow the death/breath line are just that — a "HELLO!" to God. :) I think it fits, because Tyler doesn't scream them like he's angry or desperate, particularly if you see him perform this in concert — he screams them as a celebration! Hello!<br /> <br /> Just an alternate theory on what that part of the song means!<br /> <br />
@Moonbeam86 wow that really made me think, and that's a really awesome take on the song!! I hadn't thought of it that way before. Thanks for the response :) <br /> <br /> I really like your interpretation of the line, "I can feel my death". This is because the next line supports your point. "I want to know you." This would be the reason why he's dying to his own life. To be closer to God. I wouldn't say that Tyler exactly feels close to God yet. Hence the future tense. Maybe God has impacted his life in someway, driving him to desire an even closer bond.<br /> <br /> I say that because of the line you mentioned, "I can fell your breath." Maybe what he means by this is that God is working in his life. Breath is invisible right? Maybe Tyler is referring to God working in his life invisibly. Another cool point that I just thought of; our breath is visible in cold weather, and a lot of people come closer to God and notice his work in their lives during the hard times. The "cold" times. Just thought that was interesting. Maybe that's why he can feel God's breath at this moment in the song. <br /> <br /> Having taken those two points into consideration: what I take away from this is that Tyler has been going through very difficult times in his life. During these times however, he notices the impact of God on his life, and desires a closer relationship with Him. He starts to turn over a new leaf, putting more value in his faith. Maybe this IS his conversion story, his return to faith. Thought I would add on to your statement. Thanks again for your added opinion :)
@Keeson i'm listening to this song while reading this and i was seriously tearing up
@Keeson @Keeson Hey - I thought of another theory related to the symbolic meaning of “trees.” I came upon the idea when I was listening to “Forest.” <br /> <br /> Ok so the lyrics in “Forest” say:<br /> <br /> “Down in the Forest we’ll sing a chorus, one that everybody knows<br /> Hands held higher, we’ll be on fire, singing songs that nobody wrote.”<br /> <br /> Here’s my thinking:<br /> <br /> 1) Chorus is another term for worship song.<br /> 2) Tyler spent many years as a worship leader for his church (New Albany Church/Five 14).<br /> 3) The “hands held higher, we’ll be on fire” seems like it refers to people reaching up as they sing a worship song (a chorus).<br /> 4) Following this line of thinking, all the arms raised up during worship would look like a forest.<br /> 5) So the “forest” in the song probably symbolizes a big group of people raising their arms in worship.<br /> <br /> Ok, so if Tyler’s “forest” is a group of people worshipping, I realized maybe “Trees” is referring to the same thing?<br /> <br /> As we said before, this song is a prayer someone is saying as they stand silently. However, I think the “trees” means the person is standing silently within a group of people in the midst of worship. The person is surrounded by “trees,” but he is not singing. He’s standing silently, cowardly not singing, but he wants to hear from God. His mind and soul are reaching out for God. And he feels God’s breath, and he feels his own death as God fills him — all in the midst of worship.<br /> <br /> It makes sense because why would standing silently in ACTUAL trees be cowardly? It wouldn’t. However, standing in the midst of people worshipping but being too shy to sing (or maybe even too shy to raise your hands) would be kind of cowardly.<br /> <br /> And this song was written during Tyler’s time as a worship leader.<br /> <br /> So yeah...this might be another symbolic meaning of “Trees.”
@Keeson I definitely agree with that
@Keeson Hate to come back and reply yet again, but there was a song released recently on Youtube that Tyler wrote for "No Phun Intended." There's a line where the lyrics say:<br /> <br /> "Have you ever heard the trees singing their song?"<br /> <br /> This, combined with "Forest" and the trees mentioned in "Ode to Sleep" (and the "trees wave their arms") makes me really think that what I said above is true ^ that "Trees" is from the point of view of someone in the midst of people singing and raising their hands in worship.