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Benediction Lyrics
So you don't get to be a saint. Martyrs never last this long. Guess I'll never be the one to defeat desire in song. Here's a marker, here's my naked skin, our Exhibit A. Put a small x where I lost my way. All the actors broke their legs, and it's too late to postpone. The producer's getting high, and the audience went home. Smile and take your awkward bow. Turn and stumble off the stage. Let the rain be your applause, every encore soothe your rage. Squint with one eye, hum a show-tune, and wait for your ride to say, "Oh, that's where you must have lost your way." Megaphones in helicopters squeal, "Hey, are you okay?" as searchlights circle where we lost our way. All our accidents went purposeful and fell, stripped of providence or any way to tell that our intentions were intangible and sweet. Sick with simple math and shy discoveries, piled up against our impending defeat.
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Benediction is a blessing. For what is he (the author) being blessed?
My fav song from this newly discovered (for me) group - and they're coming to Calgary Folk Festival!
It's a breakup song - and she's doing the breaking up (she doesn't get to be the saint). And he's the martyr. So it's a good breakup. Everything else is a metaphor for the end.
In a word - WOW! Samson (I assume he writes) has some of the best lyrics these days - witty and clever and full of meaning. Wow.
I agree, great song, my favorite on Reconstruction Site. But I have to dissagree with the brak up theme, the WeakerThans are way better than all those emo breakup song bands, for them being called emo by many people. I think the song is mainly about growing up, and become who you want to be, through all the shit that gets in the way, and how many times you lose your path. But through all the hard times, growing into who you are is worth it. And John K. Samson does write the songs.
I think it's about people who are having problems and they thought they would be together forever but something's gone wrong and he's trying to figure out where everything went wrong but at the same time trying to move on with his life. I see it as being about friends but I guess it could be about people dating as well.
I have trouble believing that this song is about a relationship. It seems to me that it's more about the moments where life seems absolutely turned upside down in a negative way, when we realize that we aren't who we want to be or even think we are, and then we begin to examine ourselves to find out what we did or are doing wrong. Each verse seems to be an example or a metaphor of this: not being able to defeat desire in a song, the play that went completely wrong, etc. Most striking to me is the little bit of optimism showing through at the end: "All our accidents went purposeful and fell, stripped of providence or any way to tell that our intentions were intangible and sweet. Sick with simple math and shy discoveries, piled up against our impending defeat."
I agree, it is not a breakup/relationship song. It is a life/death song. On the weakerthans site, prior to the lyrics is the following quote: "you don't get to be a saint the dead man says, you get to warm your hands for a moment, you get to catch your breath and say one thing" --Patrick Friesen, who is a Canadian poet. With this quote in mind, I think this song is about how short life is, fleeting, in the grand scheme of things, we only have time to catch our breath and say one thing, so we better make...
I agree, it is not a breakup/relationship song. It is a life/death song. On the weakerthans site, prior to the lyrics is the following quote: "you don't get to be a saint the dead man says, you get to warm your hands for a moment, you get to catch your breath and say one thing" --Patrick Friesen, who is a Canadian poet. With this quote in mind, I think this song is about how short life is, fleeting, in the grand scheme of things, we only have time to catch our breath and say one thing, so we better make it good. Also I don't think it is a coincidence that the album has this song toward the end right before prescience of dawn and past-due.
i'm currently analysing some lyrics for eng. coursework. i reached the following conclusion about 10 min ago. anybody care to shed any light?
In “Benediction” Samson addresses the naivety of youth, and how unfortunate events and mistakes can lead to an initial feeling of disillusionment and a lack of direction in life. Samson advises the individual to be humble in defeat and not to let failings consume them. When feeling lost, Samson implies it is easy to forget the concern and good intentions of others. Growing up, Samson suggests, requires the acceptance that mistakes, although unfavourable at the time, often help to guide us in the future, and acknowledging that death is inevitable, he is keen to express his Benediction i.e. his expression of good will to a certain someone.
I love the harmony at the end of this song - reminds me of the unconventional harmonies you used to get from X.
I think its funny when people see a line like "where we lost our way." and automatically assume the song is about relationships. Coughreadthewholesongcough.
My take is that the person in the song has watched everything happen around him, people succeeding and he feels like he's just been left behind and he is unsure if he'll ever amount to anything important.
The song is divided into three verses or incidents, the first describes him, the second someone else and the third is about both. In the first he seems to be admitting that he has made mistakes and in the second showing the other person that she/he too has made mistakes and finally in the third calming defeat.