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When the soul of the city
Was laid to rest
And the nights forgotten
And left for dead
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh, oh (x2)
I happened on a house
Built of living light
Where everything evil
Disappears and dies
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh, oh (x2)
When they love you, and they will
Tell 'em all they'll love in my shadow
And if they try to slow you down
Tell 'em all to go to hell
I settled in slowly
To this house that you call home
To blood and breath
Fear, flesh and bone
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh, oh (x2)
Rush of our bodies
In the heat of the night
All day the day after
Red in the skies
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh, oh (x2)
When they love you, and they will
Tell 'em all they'll love in my shadow
And if they try to slow you down
Tell 'em all to go to hell
It's a lifeless life
With no fixed address to give
But you're not mine to die for anymore
So I must live
Born of a bottle
From heaven's hand
And now you know
And here I am
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh, oh (x2)
When they love you, and they will
Tell 'em all they'll love in my shadow
And if they try to slow you down
Tell 'em all to go to hell
When they love me, and they will
I'll tell 'em all they'll love in your shadow
And if they try to slow me down
I'll tell 'em all to go to hell
Was laid to rest
And the nights forgotten
And left for dead
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh, oh (x2)
I happened on a house
Built of living light
Where everything evil
Disappears and dies
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh, oh (x2)
When they love you, and they will
Tell 'em all they'll love in my shadow
And if they try to slow you down
Tell 'em all to go to hell
I settled in slowly
To this house that you call home
To blood and breath
Fear, flesh and bone
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh, oh (x2)
Rush of our bodies
In the heat of the night
All day the day after
Red in the skies
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh, oh (x2)
When they love you, and they will
Tell 'em all they'll love in my shadow
And if they try to slow you down
Tell 'em all to go to hell
It's a lifeless life
With no fixed address to give
But you're not mine to die for anymore
So I must live
Born of a bottle
From heaven's hand
And now you know
And here I am
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh, oh (x2)
When they love you, and they will
Tell 'em all they'll love in my shadow
And if they try to slow you down
Tell 'em all to go to hell
When they love me, and they will
I'll tell 'em all they'll love in your shadow
And if they try to slow me down
I'll tell 'em all to go to hell
Lyrics submitted by maz
Track duration: 04:49
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It is about love, yes? Love is anything but simple
S1- He is almost ready to give up on love; everything seems desolate.
S2- He finds a girl comparable to living light.
S3- It took him a while to get out of his old habits. Settling takes some longer than others. Some are afraid to settle because you become vulnerable when you give yourself to another. This is the fear, to become flesh and bone. Flesh can be torn and bones can be broken.
S4- Inspite of his fears, their passion was too great. So great, they painted the skies red with lust.
S5- Inspite of their great passion, he is on the road, and their relationship ends.
S6- His life is shows, parties- rock and roll. She gave herself to him but now she sees who he really is, at least right now.
R1- I am the bench mark against which you will compare all future men. If they are like me and try to hold you back - move on.
R2- You are the bench mark against which I will compare all future women. I will continue to move on until I am ready to give love as equally as I receive it.
This song rocks my nerves.
This guy loses his love in a car accident and the song is about his coming to terms with this reality. Here’ where I’m coming from:
1st stanza: the death references are hard to miss
2nd stanza: a house of living light where everything evil disappears and dies. I interpret this to be his sour emotions dying away and being replaced with acceptance.
3rd stanza: I agree with everyone else’s interpretation: his love trumps all others
4th stanza: settling into blood, breath, flesh bone, etc. to me means coming to terms with being alive while she is not.
5th stanza: reminiscing about the passionate nights they had (nights which are now left for dead)
7th stanza: life seems less fulfilling in her absence but he needs to keep living
8th stanza: stick with me here…. She died in a drunk driving accident. He’s telling her she was called to heaven because of a drunk driving accident. In case she didn’t know, that’s why they are apart.
final stanza: he'll find someone else, but if they do not accept that this was his first true love then they can go to hell
To be honest, my first thought of the song was of a man struggling. This man is comparing himself to a god-like figure (especially with the religious verses) and I thought this might be of some delusional vision. This man feels superior to others, and he feels that God is guiding him. I didn't think of a relationship.
The first two versus almost describe a rapture like event and then living in heaven. The chorus could be interpreted as "When they love you, and they will. Tell them all they'll love in My (God's) shadow." That even works for the end when he changes it to, "I'll tell them all they'll love in Your shadow."
"I settled in slowly to this house you call home" could be interpreted as initial hesitance to accept God into his life.
I don't know, though, these dudes don't really seem like the preachy type... but you never know.
There's a nice catch late in the tune that guides my perception of the song down a slightly different path than the previous comments (which all have great perspectives to share):
"Born of a bottle
From heaven's hand
And now you know
And here I am"
I hear a parent/child interaction taking place for the first time in the child's life, likely at a time where the child is able to emotionally grasp the notion of finding out who their real parent is. Thus, the parent is also feeling the overwhelming power of the newly formed bond in the closing stanza.
The emotional delivery during the entire song is a wonderful way to tell this story.
"When they love you, and they will
Tell them all they're lovin' my shadow."
Makes more sense to me anyways.