This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Her letters gave me purpose,
Her letters gave me pride
Armies far across the ocean
Guns and letters by our side
It was someone else's homeland
It was someone else's war
But at the line of the 38th parallel
It was her I fought them for
Her victory garden grew from weeds and from stone
I smelled those flowers in my sleep
The day I left as we were standing alone
She swore to me those dreams would keep
And the bells of St. James were ringing
The bells of St. James were ringing down
Lifting the eyes of those homeward bound
I don't remember when those words changed
Like Kansas summer turns to fall
But she quit talking 'bout the future
Never mentioned dreams at all
I don't blame my enemies and I don't blame my wife
For love fires that fleeted long ago
But when she wrote me about this change in her life
There was just one thing I had to know
And the bells of St. James were ringing
The bells of St. James were ringing down
Lifting the eyes of those homeward bound
Her letters gave me pride
Armies far across the ocean
Guns and letters by our side
It was someone else's homeland
It was someone else's war
But at the line of the 38th parallel
It was her I fought them for
Her victory garden grew from weeds and from stone
I smelled those flowers in my sleep
The day I left as we were standing alone
She swore to me those dreams would keep
And the bells of St. James were ringing
The bells of St. James were ringing down
Lifting the eyes of those homeward bound
I don't remember when those words changed
Like Kansas summer turns to fall
But she quit talking 'bout the future
Never mentioned dreams at all
I don't blame my enemies and I don't blame my wife
For love fires that fleeted long ago
But when she wrote me about this change in her life
There was just one thing I had to know
And the bells of St. James were ringing
The bells of St. James were ringing down
Lifting the eyes of those homeward bound
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
The general scenario is clear: a guy is off to a foreign land to fight a war and gets his strength from the letters his wife back home writes to him. With time, the content of her letters to him changes not mentioning her dreams about their future anymore.
So the meaning really boils down to what that change in her life was. The first thing that comes to mind is that she has met someone else she has engaged with.
Contrary to what the lyrics in the booklet say, what they're actually singing after "There was just one thing I had to know" is "Are the Bella if St. James still ringing?". So maybe he is appealing to her to think back to their wedding day with those memorable bells of St. James ringing and cling to that vow of the past despite the love fires having fleeted long ago.
I choose to believe that she did the right thing and that their marriage has endured the hardships of life because that chorus is so uplifting (not only the eyes of those homeward bound (o;).