The Messenger

I would have to agree with some of you and the others; not so much. But I do believe the lyrics " Here I am, Send me" are in reference to the bible with Isiah 6:8

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

This is from Isaiah chapter 6. Which is in part:

5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
  And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

9 He said, "Go and tell this people:
   " 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
   be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'

10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
   make their ears dull
   and close their eyes. 
   Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
   hear with their ears,
   understand with their hearts,
   and turn and be healed."

The whole song is the story of Isaiah, there's nothing to argue, from kissing coals and saying, "Send me!" Saying that they won't understand his faith. The song can be interpreted to fit your life anywhich way you want, but the origin of the lyrics is clear.

The lyrics bear a strong resemblance to the commission of the prophet Isaiah.

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

9 He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.[a] Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”

And he answered:

“Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, 12 until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. 13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

So yeah...

knowing that dustin will take lyrics from literature I think that would be a logical way of finding the core message of this song.

"and in fear and trembling they will close their eyes to everything, and be content to await what will be the end of it all"

comes from one of the most controversial piece of literature ever written "the protocols of the learned elders of zion" It is a manifesto on how to take over the world written over a century ago using control of all mass media, banking, terrorism, and by breaking down values and faith in the world. This song is littered with corresponding metaphors.

"Kiss the coals, breath in smoke and i say here i am send me" " a wooden saws quite a way to die"

I challenge anyone to go and read this and tell me I'm wrong.

I can get enough of Thrice's interpretation of this small passage from Isaiah. Its easy to overlook in a book filled with wonder and miracle... but Isaiah's lips touched a coal from the heavenly alter of God. Nothing like this ever happened elsewhere in the Bible. Truly unbelievable. God sent a cherubim to inspire Isaiah, and then asked (all the while knowing the answer) aloud who he could send to preach to/against the people of Manasseh.

Inspired by the burning coal of the Holy God when it touched his lips, Isaiah didn't simply say "send me... I think" in fact I would argue he yelled, even screamed "SEND ME!" "SEND ME!!!!!" How could he not scream from the top of his lungs?

Dustin takes us from the beginning of the song, where a divine prophet of God actually fears being sent out to preach against a nation/people.... to the culmination of the song where not only is he not afraid, he is divinely inspired to go. He realizes he is an easy target, he realizes they won't understand him, and he realizes he may die... and he goes to his death without fear, for he is divinely inspired and he fears nothing!

Probably my favorite song from Thrice, I am brought to tears with the intensity Dustin has when screaming "Here I am send me!" How I long to have similar inspiration and be sent!

Here's what I got for lyrics...

Mark me with fear, I'm trembling Send someone else instead I know my world is ending I can't repay my debt

Can I carry such a heavy burden? Can I move when I am paralyzed? I see a fire behind a heavy curtain I lean in closer and I close my eyes

Kiss the coals, breathe in smoke, And I say, "Here I am, send me." Lifts my soul, free and so unafraid "Here I am, send me, send me." Free and so unafraid "Here I am, send me."

Mark me with fire and Send me among the living dead. They cannot comprehend me; I watch the sickness spread

Now, can they hear me when their hearts are hardened? Now, can they see me when they close their eyes? So let me tell you I'm an easy target A wooden saw is quite a way to die

Kiss the coals, breathe in smoke, And I say, "Here I am, send me." Lifts my soul, free and so unafraid "Here I am, send me, send me." Free and so unafraid "Here I am, send me."

"Here I am, send me."

I imagine some of the ways he says some of the phrases are a little different, but I just posted from the lyric book on this song and didn't add or take anything away.

This one I got a pretty strong idea about. Some may disagree with my interpretation, that's fine, this is just what I got out of it.

The first part is Dustin, or rather any Christian, being asked by God to go out and spread the Word. The person in reference is scared of the persecution. They know also that they are mortal, seeing as they have committed sins, but that those sins are forgiven because Jesus died on the cross for our redemption.

It proceeds, asking question about how he is supposed to do it when he is so scared of what people will think of him. It then talks about a fire behind a heavy curtain, clearly refering to God, who often appears in the form of fire (burning bush, Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes... Joel 2:3).

He takes a breath of the the fire and becomes relieved. In other words, he feels Gods presence or prays or just thinks about God and all his fears are relieved.

I love these next lines.

"Mark me with fire and Send me among the living dead. They cannot comprehend me; I watch the sickness spread"

Oh man I love it. Mark me with fire, or in other words, know that I am full of the holy spirit. It talks about the living dead, or people who have not yet been brought to Christ, and how they can't understand what makes this person so full of life. Best lines in the song in my opinion.

The next couple lines may seem like a little doubt, but I think it is quite the contrary. It is just saying that it is risky, and then the last line adds that he is willing to die for God.

Excellent song. I would love to hear some other interpretations.

I wouldn't go so far as to nail it down to just Christians. I believe it's truth in general. He's the messenger of truth, and truth is very rarely taken happily. All truth-carriers are eventually burned at the stake. That's what this is tlaking about...the perescution that comes with bearing the truth. The burden.