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The Maker Lyrics
Oh, oh deep water, black and cold like the night
I stand with arms wide open,
I've run a twisted line
I'm a stranger in the eyes of the Maker
I could not see for the fog in my eyes
I could not feel for the fear in my life
And from across the great divide, In the distance I saw a light
Jean Baptiste's walking to me with the Maker
My body is bent and broken by long and dangerous sleep
I can't work the fields of Abraham and turn my head away
I'm not a stranger in the hands of the Maker
Brother John, have you seen the homeless daughters
Standing there with broken wings
I have seen the flaming swords
there over east of eden
Burning in the eyes of the Maker
Burning in the eyes of the Maker
Burning in the eyes of the Maker...
Oh, river rise from your sleep...
I stand with arms wide open,
I've run a twisted line
I'm a stranger in the eyes of the Maker
I could not feel for the fear in my life
And from across the great divide, In the distance I saw a light
Jean Baptiste's walking to me with the Maker
I can't work the fields of Abraham and turn my head away
I'm not a stranger in the hands of the Maker
Standing there with broken wings
I have seen the flaming swords
there over east of eden
Burning in the eyes of the Maker
Burning in the eyes of the Maker...
Song Info
Submitted by
bobo192 On Jul 20, 2002
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This song lived in the vault of my memory for years, and resurfaced yesterday. Perfect timing.
The short answer on this song for me interpretively is the experience of estrangement from God, followed by being welcomed home. I think there is an implication that this estrangement is self-imposed..."I've run a twisted line..." suggesting that he has gone without Spirit and tried to go it alone, and found himself a stranger to God--blinded by the finite nature of the world, and numbed by fear.
And in verse two, his reckoning comes from a figurative or literal Great Divide, and his experience is one of being rejoined by Spirit. It's not unlike Dar Williams' similar awakening in her "After All," when she says, "Well the sun rose, with so many colors it nearly broke my heart; it worked me over like a work of art; and I was a part of all that." In other words, sometimes when we realize our smallness against the vast beauty of creation, we open our capacity to connect to the Divine. So he is no longer a stranger to the Maker.
And in his heightened consciousness, he turns back East of Eden (referencing civilization and all the mess that's been made of it) and is moved by so many others who are experiencing separation from Spirit, or "homelessness." And as the flaming swords are "burning in the eyes of the Maker," Lanois points to the idea that God is the eternal witness, the infinite Consciousness. The metaphor of his eyes being a mirror reflecting human experience and suffering is so powerful--the notion that God is always present, waiting, available for our return, and always witnessing.