The Mountain Goats – 1 Corinthians 13:8-10

we heard the rats in the rafters scurry by
and we wondered about the color of the sky outside
in warsaw in 1939
it was alright just to be alive
it was good that you were mine
and you held your hands up
to form a heart in the air
you held you hands up with your thumbs touching
they formed a heart in the air

through the piece missing in the brick wall
we had an excellent view of the soldiers coming down the wall
and you held your hands up where i could see them
in the dark and they formed a heart in the air
you held you hands up
and they formed a heart in the air

i heard the old songs radiating from you
i heard the old songs radiating from you


Lyrics submitted by sendthestars, edited by lh4

1 Corinthians 13:8-10 song meanings
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8 Comments

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  • 0
    General CommentThe title of this song really says alot about it...the verse it's refering to begins, "Love never fails."
    In a lot of his songs, he calls love nothing but false. But it makes me think, maybe the only love he doesn't like, is the love he's always had. Maybe he's trying to say that love may be the one thing that can last forever, but none of us can have it.
    Maybe he's just contridicting himself to make us think about what love really is.
    HarvestGloomon November 25, 2004   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • 0
    General Comment8Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

    9For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

    10But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
    death_list5on August 12, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Commenttrue love just when love seems impossible
    shewouldnton October 25, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General CommentTwo people hiding from the nazis in Warsaw. The nazis know that someone is hiding where they are, so one sacrifices themselves for the other. As they walk out they send a hidden signal to the other by making as a heart to them (come out with your hands up).
    saxifrageon November 30, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General CommentThe war will soon destroy everything they know. But love never ends.
    whatchamacallmeon February 22, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI haven't heard this song yet......but thanks to the intepertation of Saxifrage, I am going to find it right away.
    I can almost imagine how fantstic this song is going to be.
    Jenna_Bennaon July 03, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI don't really see any indication in the lyrics that one of the people has sacrificed themselves for the other. Mostly for this song, I picture two people in the dark hiding from people will kill them, and one of them is showing the other that she loves him, potentially as a last message shared between the two as it seems they may or not be about to get caught by the Nazis. This love might be a source of comfort and is certainly a reminder of earlier, more carefree days, and maybe it's sad, too, because this love is all they have and it might be taken away from them when they are separated by the Nazis. Or maybe, as other commenters have stated, love is eternal.

    Also, to reply to reply to HarvestGloom, John Darnielle went through a lot of trauma in his earlier years. Having gone through some myself, I get the sense that the mind may go to morbid and dark places if one has been hurt in a very deep way. What I know of Darnielle is that he's been happily married for many years, and was probably in a good relationship when writing this song.
    lh4on July 14, 2014   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI don't really see any indication in the lyrics that one of the people has sacrificed themselves for the other. Mostly for this song, I picture two people in the dark hiding from people who will kill them, and one of them is showing the other that she loves him, potentially as a last message shared between the two as it seems they may or not be about to get caught by the Nazis. This love might be a source of comfort in a desperate time and is certainly a reminder of earlier, more carefree days, and maybe it's sad, too, because this love is all they have and it might be taken away from them when they are separated by the Nazis. Or maybe, as other commenters have stated, love is eternal.

    Also, to reply to reply to HarvestGloom, John Darnielle went through a lot of trauma in his earlier years. Having gone through some myself, I get the sense that the mind may go to morbid and dark places if one has been hurt in a very deep way. What I know of Darnielle is that he's been happily married for many years, and was probably in a good relationship when he wrote this song.
    lh4on July 14, 2014   Link

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