The Hand Song

the jesus part does not at all appeal to me, because i am an agnostic who believes religion segregates people and creates prejudice, but i genuinely love the theme of this song, which like someone said before- is not necessarily Jesus, but love... and to write about that of a child's to his mother's is a priceless example

Jesus. . .haha, forgive me saying this. . .is probably a metaphor IN THIS SONG. Because I do think its about love. When a lot of religious people think of love, they think of love. Children also have eyes more open to love.

I listened to this song many times, and it wasn't until just a few nights ago I actually thought I got it. Although the meaning I found contrasts with others; I will explain. The young boy loves his mother completely, and was looking for something beautiful to give her; something to symbolize his affection for his mother. So he found roses in the garden and thought they were beautiful like his mother, and certainly she would love a beautiful rose. And in grabbing the rose the thorns pierced his skin and he goes running to his mother. The mother helps her son, and then later they she must've been reading to him about the Bible, where the youngboys finds a connections between him and Jesus because the thorns they both had. Where Jesus had it on his head, and the young boy had thorns in his hands. The instrumental part of the song I believe is supposed to symbolize the child growing up and he moves out from his family's home. Then come the "When Uncle Sam comes along. A foregin affair, but our young men are there. And luck had his number drawn." These words in my opinion is when the country is in war with a foreign county, the young men being the people from the country and when it goes on to say that luck had his number drawn I believe that he was called in for the draft and had to leave to fight. Next comes "It wasn't that long till our hero was gone, he gave to a friend what he learned from the cross." The young child all grown up that had been sent to war was killed or he is no longer living. But in time before the boy's death he preached to his friends about Jesus. The end.. Either way it means that a child's love, so simple, would never be forgotten. And that he hurt his hands by trying so hard to tell his mother he loved her, and they both knew that the love was there, and this fact never needed anything else but the mother and child. That's my take on it. :]

I like this song, not because it's about Jesus, but because it's about love. If nothing else, I wish all Christians--and everyone else, for that matter--would listen to all the stories of Jesus from the Bible and take nothing but the message of love away from it. (btw, I'm not Christian and although I do not believe in Jesus as the messiah, I still believe, if you pay attention to the right things, a lot can be learned from stories of him. For instance, what this song is all about.)

this is a beautiful song, and i think that it is about how a child's love for his mother can lead to a mans love and detication to bigger things in life =]

It amazes me how people want to hide from the fact that this song has Jesus Christ and His love and sacrifice written all over it. I believe that the thorn that the boy got from picking the rose symbolizes the nails in Jesus' hands on the cross. The boy in the story wants to give something to his mother to show how much he loves her. But in his action of picking her the rose, he gets his hand pricked by a thorn. When his mother sees what has happened, she sees the love in what he did and even more so because he got hurt while trying to show his love for her. Then later when the mother is reading him the bible, he sees the picture of Jesus and innocently points out the parallel between what he did and what Jesus did("mama he's got some scars just like me!"). Jesus showed his love for us to the point of getting nailed to a cross and crucified, so that we could have a right relationship with God.

I agree with solierz82. If you ask most people, this will be one of the songs that they listen to the least on the album, even though it's one of the best, and I think that is because there are definite references to Jesus and His sacrifice. This can make most people feel uncomfortable. It's a beautiful song about Jesus' love, and how a boy's, later a man's, life was affected by it.

i love this song, i believe in Jesus, and i think its a great reference to the great sacrifice He gave us, but i have one issue with something. this song is about a little boy who learned of love through Jesus and the bible and all that, but what about those who love without a christian belief? my best friend has to be one of the most loving people I've ever met, and she's an atheist. i just wish that the song more sang of love, and less of what this boy only learned from Jesus. love can exist anywhere. but still, i love this song :D

To me, this clearly ISN'T a song about Jesus being a "Savior". As some others have noted, the image of Jesus in this song is used as a symbol, specifically one that provokes a lot of thought from most people. In this song, Jesus' example teaches the boy that sacrifice is a form of love. He notes, "Mama, he's got some scars, just like me", and the cause of the scars. Both the boy and the biblical Jesus made a sacrifice in order to show how my they cared. This stays with the boy throughout his life, and when he is drafted into the military, he sacrificed himself to save another man ("he gave to a friend what he learned from the cross", namely sacrifice). This is a beautiful song. It nearly brings me to tears every time I hear it. I am an atheist, but I feel what the image of Jesus is trying to convey here. Also, "Mama, he's got some scars, just like me" is the most beautiful line I will ever hear.

People care way too much about the Jesus part. Whether you believe in him or not, the point is simply that the boy remembers the first time he was able to comprehend the meaning of love. His mother was reading about Jesus dying for everyone, he saw the marks on his hands in the illustration and was able to relate that to how he suffered pain because of something he did out of love for his mother. It’s not even saying that the boy necessarily grew up to still believe in Jesus, it’s just that was the moment he remembers comprehending what it means to love someone. It would be no different if she was reading him a children’s book about some random person dying to save a bunch of people, it’s not about the character in the book, it’s about what the little boy learned from the character in the book. Whether you believe in Jesus or not it’s a beautiful story they tell in the song, the overall message being that the willingness to die for/suffer pain for the sake of someone/s is an act of genuine love, that it is what true, selfless love means, to willingly put yourself in harm’s way for the sake of another. If you think Jesus didn’t exist and is just a story that’s fine, but his story, whether true or not, helped the little boy understand love, that’s all. You can not believe in Jesus and still appreciate the meaning of the song. It’s not like the song is ABOUT Jesus, it’s not saying PRAISE JESUS OUR LORD SAVIOR. It’s not a hymn or gospel, it’s about the boy, who’s mother happened to read a story from a book and the little boy was able to comprehend an important truth because of it.