Revenge

I believe it's from the perspective Judas Iscariot, a few moments before he is "hung up," -- in other words, hangs himself -- because he's realized that "I'm a villain, I deserve to be dead."

The several times the song mentions the "sun," I believe it should be "Son," referring to Christ, whom Judas watched die. This works a lot better with "heaven's Son."

"I watched You from my terminal view" -- as opposed to Christ's eternal view -- "as you struggled to rise to your end" -- as Christ struggled to spread his mission.

"I laughed hard at the insults we threw" -- the "we" here are Judas and those around him, AT the one spoken to, not Judas AND the person he is speaking to.

"With my ache for a crown, I drew first blood" -- Judas betrayed Jesus because he was frustrated with Jesus' talk of heaven rather than an attempt to become a literal king in this life. Heaven's Son is consumed by the world, and Judas drew first blood by betraying Him.

Judas is, in the last moments of his life, realizing his mistake--and yet, how Christ triumphed anyway. "That's when the irony hit me, that love had descended and stolen our pain... here's a story how a thief had been robbed, how a murder had stolen my rage."

All the talk of gravity and hanging upside down also has to do with Judas' hanging.

"Think of me Lord, I'm a few breaths away" -- as in, in a few breaths, he will be facing God.

This is a fascinating song... amazing musically and lyrically, and undeniably unique.

I completely agree with your explanation. I didn't see any of those parallels the first time I listened. Probably cause I've been linking it with the stories from "Betrayal" and "War In My Blood". I should go back to those and see if they have any of the same ideas in them.

that was an awesome explanation. love this song. it defines everyone in this life. we all put Jesus on that cross and we deserve eternity in hell; but Jesus rose from the dead and forgave us and also provided a way to escape eternity in hell.

thats certainly an interesting explanation but to me this is what the song means:

we all experience thoughts of revenge - which proves our innate desire for justice to be met. "as the weight of the world found revenge" - the weight of the world's sin had to be avenged, justice had to be met - a sacrifice had to be made, someone had to pay. and thats why He was nailed to a cross, while we threw insults at Him from our terminal (limited, with boundaries) view.

the song might be (at least partly) from the point of view of the thief on the cross next to Christ, who pleaded "remember me, Lord" ("Think of me, Lord, I'm a few breaths away"). this makes more sense in the third stanza which says "i'm a villain, i deserve to be dead, i've been hung up for wrecking my life" - does this remind you of the "good" thief telling the jerk-thief "we deserve this for what we've done, but He's innocent"? he's been "hung up with thoughts of revenge" - thoughts of injustice - because an innocent man (jesus) was hung next to him.

the heart of the song is in the lines: "So I stopped for a moment To look at the sun Die in the day [remember the sun died "in the day" at 3pm the day the Son died?] That's when the irony hit me This was revenge That love had decended And stolen our pain away" this is where the idea of "revenge" being the "need for justice for the world's sins to be met" hits home - the line "that's when the irony hit me, this was revenge: that love had descended and stolen our pain away". His brutal death, ironically, wasn't just mankind's hatred and innate thirst for blood to atone for what we had no idea about, or because of mankind's "hate for a crown (hate for authority/God)", but it was, ironically, God exacting his vengeance (revenge) on the sins of the world by sacrificing Himself... we weren't really the ones being vengeful, instead we were the ones who drew FIRST blood, who caused the offence in the first place - and God was the one taking revenge, by shedding His own blood to pay for our act of drawing first blood - by paying for original sin, and all the sins mankind ever committed or will commit. the "irony hit me", because he took revenge by hurting himself, not us - the ones who deserved it. that is an ironical kind of revenge, because in essence it was selfless love. "love had descended and STOLEN our pain away" - shedding his own blood was god's masterplan - his way of tricking the mathematical-ish system of justice, hence he didn't take our pain away but STOLE it away. His "murder had stolen my rage". "How a thief (on the cross) had been robbed". By God.

this song is jon's latest lyrical masterpiece. about the amazing complexity/mystery of what happened at the cross, about human nature, about grace/mercy meeting justice, about a selfless love, and about how undeserving we are of it. Think of me, Lord, I'm a few breaths away..

Ooh, I like that interpretation too. Heh, there's a part of me that wants to stand by my version and defend it and stuff but hey, that's my pride talking. I'd say you're absolutely right--the thief makes more sense than Judas, mostly--the only line I still think works better with Judas is "I drew first blood," but other than that, I love it this way. =]

This is why Switchfoot is my favorite band--I can spend my time debating with myself about the meanings of songs and not feel like I'm wasting time, but instead that I'm conducting an important self-dialogue. =]

born2xl, your explanation totally hits it all the way. this song is just so amazing, it was stuck in my head for days and is stuck right now.

Jon sings this with SUCH PASSION

"born2xl, your explanation totally hits it all the way. this song is just so amazing, it was stuck in my head for days and is stuck right now."

thanks :) just thought i'd let you know i did the 4:12 piece too, which you left a comment about.

I think that all of these interpretations can fit with the content of the song, and it probably is a mix of Judas, the thief, or the Roman soldier.

"As my lungs finally rip from the cage" I know somewhere near the beginning of the book of Acts, it says that Judas hung himself and his intestines spilled out. Or this could also be when the thief is crucified his lungs ripped out of his cage, because of the brutal crucifixion.

This is the song about the thief who's spirit is saved on the brink of his death.. (came from Jon himself before he plays the song in 1 of his acoustic performances)

while on the cross, the thief realizes his faults, and it finally dawned on him that this was revenge, not in a bad way, but in a good way, like the revenge of goodness in all these wicked times..

The thief also reflects our generation, as we all lived our life away from God's path, and Jesus payed the price, so that our sins may be forgiven through Him, by only accepting Him, even in the brink of death..