Make me a witness
Take me out
Out of darkness
Out of doubt

I won't weigh you down
With good intention
Won't make fire out of clay
Or other inventions

Will we burn in heaven
Like we do down here
Will the change come
While we're waiting

Everyone is waiting

And when we're done
Soul searching
As we carried the weight
And died for the cause
Is misery
Made beautiful
Right before our eyes
Will mercy be revealed
Or blind us where we stand

Will we burn in heaven
Like we do down here
Will the change come while we're waiting
Everyone is waiting

Make me a witness
Take me out
Out of darkness
Out of doubt



Lyrics submitted by kevin

Track duration: 04:48

"Witness" as written by Gavin Richard Harrison, Mick Karn, Gary Sanctuary

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Witness song meanings
Add your thoughts

16 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    Song Meaning:Definitely deep religious meanings. Here's the meaning:

    Make me a witness
    take me out
    out of darkness
    out of doubt

    She has acquaintances or relatives who are Jehovah's Witnesses (aka "Witnesses"). She admires their faith and wishes she had their strong faith as evidenced by the fact that she asks to "make me a witness". Although nobody knows everything about the bible, God has revealed enough that a sincere student can gather enough understanding of the Bible that it will produce a very strong faith. Witnesses demonstrate very strong faith by preaching the good news of the kingdom all around the globe. No one willingly exposes themselves to ridicule and uses their precious time, energy and gas money going door-to-door unless they have strong faith.

    Jesus said "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." John 8:32. The truth will take you out of the "darkness" of not knowing. 1 Peter 2:9 talks about a special group that will "declare abroad the excellencies of the one who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" - a direct Biblical reference to darkness and light. Inaccurate information without access to accurate information will of course cause doubts. Accurate knowledge on the other hand will take you out of doubt because it exposes false or conflicting teachings. (John 17:3)

    I won't weigh you down
    with good intention
    won't make fire out of clay
    or other inventions

    Someone who has good intentions but doesn't follow through with the things they say they will do becomes a burden. Many of us have had family members or friends with good intentions let us down because they couldn't follow through on something. The writer is saying that if they can acquire the strong faith they will be able to follow through on what they say, translating their intentions into actions. Actions are important for those who claim to have faith in God. James 2:24 and 2:26 say “You see that a man is declared righteous by works and not by faith alone...as the body without spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

    Making fire out of clay. Very interesting. Most Christian religions teach that when you die you go to heaven or a fiery burning hell run by the Devil. The word “hell” should not even appear in an accurate bible because the actual words used in hebrew and greek are Sheol and Hades. Jews never believed God was going to roast the wicked alive in a fiery burning place because they believed in a resurrection. They used the word Sheol when referring to death which meant “the common grave of mankind”. In other words if you went to Sheol, you were just buried in the clay of the earth. No fire. So when she is talking about making fire out of clay as being an invention, she is saying that the teaching of hellfire is an invention. If you care to look it up, some bible translations imply (inaccurately) that Jesus was in hell at one point. The truth will set you free here because a true Christian would never believe that Gods perfect Son would have gone to hell when he died. Check this out at Acts 2:27, 31, 32 and see what your Bible says. “Other inventions” refers to other false teachings like the hellfire doctrine which have been promoted by false religion.

    Will we burn in heaven
    like we do down here
    will the change come
    while we're waiting

    This is obviously not a literal burning but rather an emotional burning. Everyone is burning for the “change” to come. The change that will come is that God will eliminate the worthless governments that now rule and replace them with one perfect government headed by his Son. Satan will no longer be allowed to rule and affect the world the way he does, and Jesus as the appointed king will bring Satan's government(s) to an end. Check out Daniel 2:44 which talks about God setting up a Kingdom that will never be brought to ruin that will crush and put an end to all other kingdoms here on the earth.
    .
    Everyone is waiting

    And when we're done
    soul searching
    as we carried the weight
    and died for the cause
    is misery
    made beautiful
    right before our eyes
    will mercy be revealed
    or blind us where we stand

    She outlines the process for becoming a Witness. After we learn the truth and accurately learn what God requires from us, we all “soul search” and meditate on how this affects us personally. If I now believe that there is a true God and he does require certain things from me, we each need to decide how we will react to these truths. Will we carry the weight of being a taught one? Will we actually now take part in warning others so that they too can have a chance to survive? Jesus and the Apostles had the ability to resurrect people and bring the dead back to life because God gave them this ability. Do we believe that God still has this ability? Not that we want to die, but will we be willing to give up our own life and be willing to die for a cause based on the evidence that God can and will resurrect us?

    Here on earth Satan is wreaking havoc in these last days. We are miserable. Revelation 12:12 says that when Satan was cast out, the heavens rejoiced because the accuser was cast down to the earth permanently. But it also says that “Woe for the earth and for the sea (of people that inhabit the earth), because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger knowing he has a short period of time.” We are now living in this time period where Satan has been cast down to the earth and there is no end to hunger, disease, wars and death. So, the writer is asking will this misery actually be turned around and made beautiful in our time. Will we actually see beauty replace misery in our time – right before our eyes? Or if we decide not to act on the the truth and decide to keep doing what we want with our lives (and not what God wants) will we see mercy for this mistake or will we receive judgment and be blinded where we stand?

    CONCLUSION: How will you answer? 2 Peter 3:9 says “Jehovah is not slow respecting his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.” The apostle Peter then goes on to say what the future holds without Satans influence for those who decide to live for God. In verse 13 he says “But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.”

    Don't stay in doubt and in darkness. Study the bible with the people that carries Gods name when they come to your door. Learn what the truth is from Jehovah's Witnesses so you can be set free. Its good to be free!

    Flagged WhatItAllMeanson May 28, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I always interpreted the song like this:
    The world has so many problems (political, social, moral, take your pick) but instead of trying to fix them, we just wait around, hoping things will be better in heaven. I think Sarah is doubting whether that will really happen, and wondering whether human beings should make the Earth itself a better place, rather than waiting to be delivered to one.

    Sort of an athiest point of view, but that's how I have always thought of this song.
    Flag Bobathinon September 02, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:Wow! Guess I've got it all wrong! I've always thought this song was about love and passion. "Will we burn in Heaven like we down here?" I see as wondering whether we'll still have our human feelings for one another and love as strongly as we do on earth. I've been taught that our love for others will be brotherly, and that upsets me a great deal, as I want to feel the burning passion I had for my husband while he was alive.
    Flag keddlemanon July 21, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I always thought it was "His misery" not "is misery" because it made sense to say "His misery, made beautiful, right before our eyes" referring to the crucifixion.
    Flag frumstickon April 04, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Everyone needs to hear this on Mirrorball. One of Sarah's best songs. Far better than the original recording...

    And oh yeah. I love this song. It is about religion and being curious about the end of our lives.
    Flag Andrew Evenstaron October 15, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I believe this song has to do with God. She wants to be made a witness to Jesus Christ. In other words, she wants to be saved. She want's to be enlightened with the truths of God and to have her doubts about Him and everything surrounding Him to be removed. However, her doubts get the best of her, leaving her wondering whether heaven will just be another Earth when she gets there. Everyone is truly waiting, like she says. Every Christian has their doubts, but it's climbing over our doubt that makes us strong. This is just what the song means to me.
    Flag kda425on September 08, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I have never been able to hear this song without crying, honestly.
    Flag Tatsumakion July 26, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is sooo amazing, i think that the song is all about "mass confusion" she is just one of those people who wants to beleive there is a God but needs hard evidence that he exist. I really love this song, when i am listening to this song in my car. i have to listen to it at lease 2-3 times in a row. 1 is just not enough, i turn is so loud, and sing my heart out. lol.
    Flag steven1979on March 16, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think it's waiting for some sort of religious sign, since there seems to frustration that a lot has happened with very little visible proof of any good from it.
    Flag AthenAltenaon March 07, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I love the guitar parts in this song, but the lyrics are some of her best, IMO. You know what everyone is waiting for? The rapture. Revelation. I'm kinda losing faith that it will happen. It's been about 2000 years too long.
    Flag floyd336on January 20, 2007   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain