Low

Weight of Water

3 Meanings

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Weight of Water Lyrics

Take a cupful from your hand
Wait for forty days
Make a river through the sand
'Til you're called by a secret name

And the weight of the water has brought me back to this

Just leave me to the river
Let it cleanse my face
I have no power to ward it
Like the baptism of the earth

And the weight of the water has brought me back to this

And the step where you stood
As I bleed from the wound
How I cower to that weight
Still I'll make this water home

Submitted by

minette On Jun 30, 2002

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Let the lyrics be lyrics

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Edit lightly

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When in doubt, ask the crowd

Not sure what they’re singing in that fuzzy bridge? Drop a question in the comments and let the music nerds swarm. Someone always knows.

minette

Submitter

2002-06-30 20:00:30

3 Meanings

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by boelo

20y ago

I don't have a clue; can somebody help? Still: it's a beautiful melody.

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by Mimisa1

19y ago

Solitude as a means to heal sadness.

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by zemccart

9y ago

It's about baptism and spiritual renewal, and the cost that it exacts. Mimi and Alan from Low are Mormons, and lots of their music draws on their spiritual convictions.

"Till you're called by your secret name" (also the name of the record) refers to the new identity we are given when we are made new in Christ. "The weight of the water" is the idea that baptism is something you have to carry. It both frees you, and binds you in a new way of living. The weight of the water "has brought me back" to a place of emptiness, waiting to be filled again. "I have no power to ward it" - God's redemption has the power over me, not the other way around.

"How I cower to the weight" - a lovely line - speaks to our fear at being so vulnerable before God. And the song ends with a confession of hope and trust. "Still I'll make this water home."

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by razorim 8y ago

@zemccart I agree with your explanation completely.

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