| Jars of Clay – Surprise Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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This song is quite cryptic, so it helps to know the context in the album. Two songs ago was "Good Monsters" which is about the evil that is the indifference of good people. The previous song was "Oh My God," which is about the struggle to trust God amid a world that really sucks. With that in mind, I think that this song is written to a Christian/good person struggling to awake from complacency. Indifference is consistently described in terms of a person taking drugs so they can be happy at the expense of those who need them. Every time the drugs run out and they crash, they have a chance to see the plethora of signs that people need them. "We are so beautiful when we sleep" This is one of the most sarcastic lines I've ever heard in a song. "But love won't cure the chaos, and hope won't hide the loss, And peace is not the heroine that shouts above the cause." This is a form of love, hope, and peace that is present in the mind of a sleeping hero that could have been. And it is worthless. "hope though short in sight, Might be the only thing that wakes you by surprise" Hope for the future might be mere delusions. But it's the only chance. As the song ends, the person being addressed has just begun to see ugly world he's not helping. But rather than being congratulated for being so progressive, the singer is disgusted that the bar has been set so low, that the mere rise of an eyelid is enough to be the case of surprise. |
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