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I never meant to wither
I wanted to be tall
Like a fool left the river
And watched my branches fall
Old and thirsty, I longed for the flood
To come back around
To the cactus in the valley
That's about to crumble down
And wipe the mark of sadness from my face
Show me that your love will never change
If my yesterday is a disgrace
Tell me that you still recall my name
So, the storm finally found me
And left me in the dark
In the cloud around me
I don't know where you are
If this whole world goes up in arms
All I can do is stand
And I won't fight for anyone
Until you move my hand
And wipe the mark of madness from my face
Show me that your love will never change
If my yesterday is a disgrace
Tell me that you still recall my name
Oh, here
In the shadow
Here I am
And I need someone by my side
It becomes so
Hard to stand
And I keep trying to dry my eyes
Come and find me
In the valley
And wipe the mark of sadness from my face
Show me that your love will never change
If my yesterday is a disgrace
Tell me that you still recall my name
And wipe the mark of madness from my face
Show me that your love will never change
If my yesterday is a disgrace
Tell me that you still recall my name
I wanted to be tall
Like a fool left the river
And watched my branches fall
Old and thirsty, I longed for the flood
To come back around
To the cactus in the valley
That's about to crumble down
And wipe the mark of sadness from my face
Show me that your love will never change
If my yesterday is a disgrace
Tell me that you still recall my name
So, the storm finally found me
And left me in the dark
In the cloud around me
I don't know where you are
If this whole world goes up in arms
All I can do is stand
And I won't fight for anyone
Until you move my hand
And wipe the mark of madness from my face
Show me that your love will never change
If my yesterday is a disgrace
Tell me that you still recall my name
Oh, here
In the shadow
Here I am
And I need someone by my side
It becomes so
Hard to stand
And I keep trying to dry my eyes
Come and find me
In the valley
And wipe the mark of sadness from my face
Show me that your love will never change
If my yesterday is a disgrace
Tell me that you still recall my name
And wipe the mark of madness from my face
Show me that your love will never change
If my yesterday is a disgrace
Tell me that you still recall my name
Lyrics submitted by SaidItAllBefore
Track duration: 03:24
"Cactus in the Valley" as written by Valerie Poxleitner
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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AF❤
Then the desert storm eventually finds her as a cactus, and I suppose it was the worst part of her life. But it comes and goes and when it's gone it leaves her in a state of confusion, uncertainty, and weakness. She feels completely isolated and alone, and would like someone to come find her and help her.
Oh, Lights! I'll find you. :'(
In the first verse it says:
"Old and thirsty, I longed for the flood to come back around."
The flood that destroyed every living thing. (Genesis)
It sounds like she wants her past to be in the past and be forgotten and washed away.
In the second verse it says:
"Well, the storm finally found me
And left me in the dark
In the cloud around me
I don't know where you are."
She's saying she's "depressed" or "sad" and it has left her struggling with her faith in God.
It's hard to reach to him when you feel like you can't see him in your clouds of darkness.
In the choruses:
"Wipe the mark of sadness/madness from my face.
Show me that your love will never change.
If my yesterday is a disgrace,
Tell me that you'll still recall my name."
No matter what she's going through, being sad or mad, she knows that God will still love her no matter what. He'll still call her His child and he'll never forget her.
In the Brige, it says:
"In the shadows, here I am
And I need someone by side.
It becomes so hard to stand
And I keep trying to dry my eyes
Come and find me in the valley."
To me, of course she's in the desert which could also means she feels lost because there's nothing else around. She needs God to comfort her in times of need. And she can't go through it alone without him by her side to find her place and way back home.
A lot of her songs, from her first album mostly sound very religious, although you can still listen to her without being Christian because she is amazing :)
But that's just my breakdown and view of this song.
Honestly, I just think it's a really beautiful love song.
Basically, the speaker is saying that, no matter what happens to them, no matter how they feel or look, no matter how low this person may become, they hope that someone will not forget them and still love them, despite all the 'dark parts'. Life can get really hard but, we all need love.
We're all worthy and deserving of love, no exceptions.
I don't see the romance at all. What she's talking about is making mistakes and feeling lost and needing God to forgive her and lead because she can't do it by herself.
This song is clear and outstanding, first of all. And Lights is incredibly talented, I am grateful she is making music. She does an excellent job combining melody, a sweet tech sound, her smooth voice accents the hard/digital sounds she tends to so well and she is very transparent with her lyrics. And her writing doesn't suck. It a whole lot of awesome in a digital Canadian pixie. Secondly, and more to the point, I feel this song about her relationship with the God, there are a lot of Christian, new testament references. Pointing a lot to Christ saying he is the true vine, and those who are not connected wither and die. ("I never meant to wither" + "And watched my branches fall" + John 15:1-15). Also the recognition of something wrong and the hope that she is not forgotten because of what she has done (The Chorus) which lines with Jesus making everything new (2 Corinthians 5:17). She makes a reference to the storm finally coming (Matt 7:24-27). And finally she sings about unending tears (which is heartbreaking) (Isaiah 25:8 + Revelations 21:4).
I pray that I am wrong, because this song sounds like she is having a hard time. But given my finite-ness, only a bit of information and no perception of Lights motive/heart in writing, this is of course opinion. But it has encouraged me to pray for the broken hearted. Also, not to sound preachy, but if you are feeling broken hearted, you've had a tough relationship with God or you feel you're too dirty to come back to God...I just really want to encourage you to come home. Jesus cleans us of all sin, and he desperately wants to see you again. He remade my heart, he can do yours too. Love you guys.