"Born Secular" as written by and Jenny Diane Lewis....
I was born secular and inconsolable
I heard that he walked, he walked the earth
God goes where he wants
And who knows where he is not
Not in me
It's the way mothers greet their sons
When it's a moment too late
It's the law of the land
That sometimes the dam just breaks
God works in mysterious ways
And God gives and then he takes
From me
I heard that he walked, he walked the earth
God goes where he wants
And who knows where he is not
Not in me
It's the way mothers greet their sons
When it's a moment too late
It's the law of the land
That sometimes the dam just breaks
God works in mysterious ways
And God gives and then he takes
From me
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But in the second part:
It's the way mothers greet their sons
When it's a moment too late.
The immediate image that jumps to mind is that of a mother over a casket. Perhaps maybe the most unabidable shriek imaginable — of a parent losing a child? The heartbreak, the horror. And below that, crying :
It's the law of the land
That sometimes the dam just breaks.
And then:
And God gives and then he takes.
From me.
She starts off “inconsolable” and a bit jaded, but when she’s encounters that unsatisfactory situation/reality, it’s so tragic and desperate and unfathomable, that in an almost sick way, imaging a “God” is a comfort. Even if it’s a negative-coded comfort, it’s still better to channel that anger to something you’re not comitted to, than to accept that the dice just roll that way sometimes. It seems so personal and painful, that she would rather have an angel of some kind of accountability than total chance and bad luck.
i havent listened to another cd since i got this a month ago. 4 songs are already in my top 50 most played songs on itunes.... its so funny to me because i never listen to country and before only knew rilo kiley for portions for foxes
i think it's about how she wants to believe in God, and how he gives her blessings, but then she doubts him as Job did, because He takes away from her, like family and friends passing away, or lovers lost interest... idk... i'm not a very good analyzer... not aloud anyways!!
"God works in mysterious ways
And God gives and then he takes
From me "
Really gets me.. just because you love god and sometimes, you just don't know what to do anymore when things get hard. So she feels frustrated. very understanding and moving song. Love it.
In this song, she's just being honest with her insecurities about her belief in God and just going through her thoughts about her life in relation to God.
At some point, everybody, whether a believer or not, goes through this and either reaches a conclusion or doesn't. From the shortness of the poem, it seems she can't reach a conclusion about whether He is present in her life and just lets the music continue with her possibly running her thoughts in her head whether than singing them out loud.
Or, she is explaining how she has a love-hate relationship with God. She feels God exists when she is given great things, but when something bad happens or taken away from her, she feels God is not apart of her. Again, I think it's all about being honest with her thoughts.