This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
I'd swim across Lake Michigan
I'd sell my shoes
I'd give my body to be back again
In the rest of the room
To be alone with you
To be alone with you
To be alone with you
To be alone with you
You gave your body to the lonely
They took your clothes
You gave up a wife and a family
You gave your goals
To be alone with me
To be alone with me
To be alone with me
You went up on a tree
To be alone with me you went up on the tree
I've never known a man who loved me
I'd sell my shoes
I'd give my body to be back again
In the rest of the room
To be alone with you
To be alone with you
To be alone with you
To be alone with you
You gave your body to the lonely
They took your clothes
You gave up a wife and a family
You gave your goals
To be alone with me
To be alone with me
To be alone with me
You went up on a tree
To be alone with me you went up on the tree
I've never known a man who loved me
Lyrics submitted by vwkeychain, edited by RBrad
To Be Alone With You Lyrics as written by Sufjan Stevens
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Spirit Music Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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It is about Jesus, Allthearmsweneed. On the cross, Jesus showed the perfect example of what love is. The cross provides access to God. There is no other way we could even pray to God without having a relationship with Christ - a believe and faith in Him. When Sufjan says "They took your clothes" , it is describing when the Roman soldiers took Jesus' clothes right before He was crucified (see Romans 19:23-24).
In response to the line "You gave up a wife and a family" , Sufjan is trying to talk about the humanity of Christ. He was both fully human and fully God (see John 10:30). Hebrews 4:15 says that Jesus was tempted in -every- way - therefore He was tempted sexually, but He never sinned. A lot of times people have a picket-fence house dream of a family with 2.5 children and a dog and a cat, but Jesus chose a much harder life. And for one reason - to accompliish salvation for those who would believe in Him.
In response to "You gave up your ghost", Sufjan speaks of the Holy Spirit. Because of the finished work on the cross, Christians have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
"The tree" is another word for the cross since it was made out of the wood from trees.
Allthearmsweneed, I hope this helps to relieve your confusion.
For His Glory, PemberleyTea Colossians 1:19
Jesus did not die on a cross, sorry.
What did he die on?
Thanks PemberleyTea!
@PemberleyTea \r\n\r\nIt’s also pretty obvious that it’s about a romantic relationship. The lyrics seem carefully chosen to have a double meaning. One thing you didn’t explain from a biblical perspective is the name of the song. Why would someone want to be alone “in the rest of the room” with Jesus? If anything, the Christian meaning is secondary to the person-to-person romantic relationship meaning.