In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
DIS...HONEST
You came with your first kiss
Blue eyes sold me your HEAVENLY PRESENCE
Something was SUFFOCATING me...couldn't breath
Had no idea that you would ever DECEIVE
I tried to BELIEVE all the things that you TAUGHT ME
CHRIST LIKE IMAGES OF TRUTH...they straight got me
Now watch me DROWN IN SADNESS
My lungs gasp for air cause I let you STAB THIS...
HEART...and rip apart WOUNDS that exist
Deeper and darker
than any words I could SPIT
ALL IS SHIT
And it will NEVER be well
Because the fires that burn
Are my never ending .... HELL
IS THIS WHAT YOU CALL GOD?
Your faith is lost
IS THIS WHAT YOU CALL GOD?
Get off your cross
GET OFF...
BRIDGES
Connect each other for necessity
LIFELINES SCAR MY HANDS like the rest of me
Asked me to TRUST you and yes I TRIED to
CONSTANT APOLOGIES caused me to LIE too
Tried to MEDICATE MY HATE with YOUR MAGIC
How could something so SWEET end up so tragic
RESSURECT me from this abyss
IN DEATH EVERY BODY FUNCTION FAILS TO EXIST
False commitments TONGUES twisted with RELIGION
A HEART SHAPED ROCK of the same size incision
OBSOLETE
With no RELIEF or RELEASE
Just INSOMNIA filled nights
Of never ending...SLEEP
IS THIS WHAT YOU CALL GOD?
Your faith is lost
IS WHAT YOU CALL GOD?
Get off your cross
Split a piece of wood and I am there
Lift a stone and you will find me
ARE YOU STILL SCARED?
SANCTUARY
SANCTUARY
SANCTUARY
There's no SANCTUARY
IS THIS WHAT YOU CALL GOD
IS THIS WHAT YOU CALL... GOD
Is this
Is this
Is this WHAT YOU CALL LOVE
Get off Get off
Watch me
Get off Get off
Watch me
Get off Get off
NOW WATCH ME FALL...
I swallowed all your lies
And they felt good going down...
DEATH BE NOT PROUD
You came with your first kiss
Blue eyes sold me your HEAVENLY PRESENCE
Something was SUFFOCATING me...couldn't breath
Had no idea that you would ever DECEIVE
I tried to BELIEVE all the things that you TAUGHT ME
CHRIST LIKE IMAGES OF TRUTH...they straight got me
Now watch me DROWN IN SADNESS
My lungs gasp for air cause I let you STAB THIS...
HEART...and rip apart WOUNDS that exist
Deeper and darker
than any words I could SPIT
ALL IS SHIT
And it will NEVER be well
Because the fires that burn
Are my never ending .... HELL
IS THIS WHAT YOU CALL GOD?
Your faith is lost
IS THIS WHAT YOU CALL GOD?
Get off your cross
GET OFF...
BRIDGES
Connect each other for necessity
LIFELINES SCAR MY HANDS like the rest of me
Asked me to TRUST you and yes I TRIED to
CONSTANT APOLOGIES caused me to LIE too
Tried to MEDICATE MY HATE with YOUR MAGIC
How could something so SWEET end up so tragic
RESSURECT me from this abyss
IN DEATH EVERY BODY FUNCTION FAILS TO EXIST
False commitments TONGUES twisted with RELIGION
A HEART SHAPED ROCK of the same size incision
OBSOLETE
With no RELIEF or RELEASE
Just INSOMNIA filled nights
Of never ending...SLEEP
IS THIS WHAT YOU CALL GOD?
Your faith is lost
IS WHAT YOU CALL GOD?
Get off your cross
Split a piece of wood and I am there
Lift a stone and you will find me
ARE YOU STILL SCARED?
SANCTUARY
SANCTUARY
SANCTUARY
There's no SANCTUARY
IS THIS WHAT YOU CALL GOD
IS THIS WHAT YOU CALL... GOD
Is this
Is this
Is this WHAT YOU CALL LOVE
Get off Get off
Watch me
Get off Get off
Watch me
Get off Get off
NOW WATCH ME FALL...
I swallowed all your lies
And they felt good going down...
DEATH BE NOT PROUD
Lyrics submitted by SMUSER35620
Sanctuary Lyrics as written by Mick Murphy Tairrie Beth
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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!
More Featured Meanings
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
This song is amazing. I think it's about a relationship in which she was lied to. Also, the same kind of theme with 'Blasphemous Girl' is here, with the whole comparing-her-lover-to-god type thing.
So so goooood.