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."
It's about the afterlife and that this life and our understanding is not all there is and having realized these things one will always feel "out of place" in life but everything will be resolved and our understanding complete in the next life.
It's about the afterlife and that this life and our understanding is not all there is and having realized these things one will always feel "out of place" in life but everything will be resolved and our understanding complete in the next life.
Others have gone into very accurate dissections of the many allusions to Christian text and symbolism that the lyrics constantly reference.
Others have gone into very accurate dissections of the many allusions to Christian text and symbolism that the lyrics constantly reference.
Upon hearing this song and understanding the lyrics I thought of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name."
Upon hearing this song and understanding the lyrics I thought of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name."
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."
It's about the afterlife and that this life and our understanding is not all there is and having realized these things one will always feel "out of place" in life but everything will be resolved and our understanding complete in the next life.
It's about the afterlife and that this life and our understanding is not all there is and having realized these things one will always feel "out of place" in life but everything will be resolved and our understanding complete in the next life.
Others have gone into very accurate dissections of the many allusions to Christian text and symbolism that the lyrics constantly reference.
Others have gone into very accurate dissections of the many allusions to Christian text and symbolism that the lyrics constantly reference.
Upon hearing this song and understanding the lyrics I thought of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name."
Upon hearing this song and understanding the lyrics I thought of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name."