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The Last Time I Cried Lyrics
The last time I cried, I was sitting home,
And it was deep in the night,
Staring at the shadows and the flickering lights,
Giving all that I had, to take them away,
Giving all that I had, to make them pay;
The last time I cried, I could see the people,
Long ago in the rain,
Waiting as the soldiers put them all on a train,
And the hands on the bars, the eyes full of tears,
And the word is the same, for a thousand years,
Eli Eli Lama, oh Lord, you have forsaken me,
Eli Eli Lama, oh Lord, you have forsaken me;
The last time I cried, I could not believe it,
When I held on a face,
Staring at a soldier with his gun in the rain,
It was the face of a child, my child here asleep,
And the soldier who smiled, the man was me,
Eli Eli Lama, oh Lord, you have forsaken me,
Eli Eli Lama, oh why, have you forsaken me?
Eli Eli Lama, oh Lord, you have forsaken me,
The last time I cried, the last time I cried,
The last time I cried, the last time I cried,
The last time I cried, the last time I cried,
The last time I cried, the last time I cried,
The last time
This is a man caught up in error, complicit, with not exit strategy.
I see it as a cry to God, about the suffering we cause eachother. My interpretation may be formed by how it seems to describe some of my own feelings, but this is what i make of it.
The last time I cried, I was sitting home, And it was deep in the night, Staring at the shadows and the flickering lights, // He's seeing something dark, that's why it's night, and it hurts. The shadows remind me of how evil thigs are called in tolkien's "lord of the rings".
Giving all that I had, to take them away, Giving all that I had, to make them pay; // Not only do the dark things need to go away, they must pay/be punished for what they do/did.
The last time I cried, I could see the people, Long ago in the rain, Waiting as the soldiers put them all on a train, And the hands on the bars, the eyes full of tears, //A reference to the holocaust. Many Jews were transported to the concentration camps by train. Not so long ago in my view though. Does the rain mean that even heaven is crying?
And the word is the same, for a thousand years, // This sentence makes the song apply to more than the holocaust. It is something of all times and places.
Eli Eli Lama, oh Lord, you have forsaken me, Eli Eli Lama, oh Lord, you have forsaken me; //This refers to words Jezus spoke during his crucifixion. "Eli Eli Lama sabachthani?", meaning "My God, why have you forsaken me?" In this context, it means: "God, why do You allow these things to happen?" Have you abandoned us?
The last time I cried, I could not believe it, When I held on a face, Staring at a soldier with his gun in the rain, It was the face of a child, my child here asleep, And the soldier who smiled, the man was me, //I'd say the singer identifies his child and his loved ones as victims, but himself, being one of the soldiers, as bearing part of the blame.
Eli Eli Lama, oh Lord, you have forsaken me, Eli Eli Lama, oh why, have you forsaken me? // To me this is a cry to God. Asking for the suffering to end. I feel the people responsible should be brought to justice, but can't deny I am responsible as well.