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Wake Up Your Saints Lyrics
I had a hole in the middle where the lightning went through
I told my friends not to worry, my wife would know how to fix it
Hole in the middle, I'm seeing less of you
Now I'm not going anywhere and I don't know what I'll do
It's easy to lose your grip
It's easy
I never tell my decisions to the ones I adore
I just show up like a bible breather outside the door
But when I look out the window I see girls on TV
Living and dying in L.A. and it means nothing to me
It's easy to lose your grip
It's easy
So I walk through the streets I love
And I'm led to the house I built
So I walk through the streets I love
And I lay in your bed again
Wake up your saints Jenny, I need them
Jenny, I need them
Today
I didn't have to explain to her that I wasn't deaf
She sat me down and lit some colored candles over my head
She said you're right, it's a living, but you're wrong for the life
You know you never should've listened to my father's advice
It's easy to lose your grip
It's easy
So I walk through the streets I love
And I'm led to the house I built
So I walk through the streets I love
And I lay in your bed again
Wake up your saints Jenny, I need them
Jenny, I need them
Today
I told my friends not to worry, my wife would know how to fix it
Hole in the middle, I'm seeing less of you
Now I'm not going anywhere and I don't know what I'll do
It's easy
I just show up like a bible breather outside the door
But when I look out the window I see girls on TV
Living and dying in L.A. and it means nothing to me
It's easy
And I'm led to the house I built
So I walk through the streets I love
And I lay in your bed again
Jenny, I need them
Today
She sat me down and lit some colored candles over my head
She said you're right, it's a living, but you're wrong for the life
You know you never should've listened to my father's advice
It's easy
And I'm led to the house I built
So I walk through the streets I love
And I lay in your bed again
Jenny, I need them
Today
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here's a personal transcription of the modern version. corrections are welcome :)
i had a hole in the middle where the lightning went through i told my friends not to worry my wife would know how to fix it hole in the middle and i'm seeing less of you now i'm not going anywhere and i don't know what i'll do
it's easy to lose your grip it's easy
i never tell my decisions to the ones i adore i just show up like a bible breather outside the door but when i look in the window i see girls on tv living and dying in la and it means nothing to me
it's easy to lose your grip it's easy it's easy to lose your grip it's easy
so i walk through the streets i love and i'm led to the house i built and i walk through the streets i love and i lay in your bed again
wake up your saints jenny, i need them jenny, i need them today
wake up your saints jenny, i need them jenny, i need them today
i didn't have to explain to her that i wasn't dead she sat me down and lit some colored candles over my head she said you're right it's a livin' but you're wrong for the life you know you never should've listened to my father's advice
it's easy to lose your grip it's easy it's easy to lose your grip it's easy
so i walk through the streets i love and i'm led to the house i built and i walk through the streets i love and i lay in your bed again
wake up your saints jenny, i need them jenny, i need them today
wake up your saints jenny, i need them jenny, i need them today
All of that sounds right, except I'm almost certain he says "it's easy to lose your breath" instead of "it's easy to lose your grip." But it's hard to tell.
All of that sounds right, except I'm almost certain he says "it's easy to lose your breath" instead of "it's easy to lose your grip." But it's hard to tell.
" I can't sing another version of the same color blue"
It's about modes of expression, salvation, reformation, agnosticism, etc.
Example: proper punctuation and transcription of the third stanza:
I didn't have to explain to her That I wasn't dead. She sat me down and lit some colored candles over my head She said "you're right it's a livin' But you're wrong for the life." Honey, maybe you never should've listened to my mother's advice
PS - I should have added, this connects to another National song where the persona exhibits metatextual awareness of the song (and career) and questions either its futility or worth, given the difficulty of life as a musician and the pressures of trying to properly express big ideas. You know, given the interpretation that Mr. November is about the anxiety of delivering a good album to a British record label. (which is a fair interpretation, given the process of how the National write their songs).
PS - I should have added, this connects to another National song where the persona exhibits metatextual awareness of the song (and career) and questions either its futility or worth, given the difficulty of life as a musician and the pressures of trying to properly express big ideas. You know, given the interpretation that Mr. November is about the anxiety of delivering a good album to a British record label. (which is a fair interpretation, given the process of how the National write their songs).
Brilliant! It may be about true love seen as a religion.
I think it sounded like something very bad happened to him, when he said 'a hole in the middle where the lightning went through'. I'm more inclined to think that he got involved in some criminal act and he's in too deep, because 'it's a living but you're wrong for the life', and it is described as a metaphorical illness. He loses his way but his wife is constantly there for him. He also laments the fact that the control one has over his life is incredibly insignificant, when he said 'it's easy to lose your grip'. He feels like an outsider, being a criminal and an outcast, living with his guilt. The chorus represents his pleas for forgiveness towards the saints (presumably angels or God).
On second thought it sounds to me like the 'hole in the middle where the lightning went through' is the impact of receiving bad news on him.
On second thought it sounds to me like the 'hole in the middle where the lightning went through' is the impact of receiving bad news on him.
Four of the things he says here stand out to me, as they are similar lyrics to his other songs:
1) "I had a hole in the middle where the lightning went through I told my friends not to worry" from "Anyone's Ghost" on High Violet
2) "But when I look out the window I see girls on TV Living and dying in L.A. and it means nothing to me" mostly from "Lemon World" on High Violet
3) "You know you never should've listened to my father's advice" - something I see as a reference to "Karen" on Alligator
4) "I never tell my decisions to the ones I adore I just show up like a bible breather outside the door" - referencing "Demons" from Trouble will Find me (I know it came out later)
Because of these repeats of lyrics, or references to other songs, I have to view this in the same light that I view a Jon Foreman song, such as "Vice Verses" or "Free"... where a poet goes through the same questions over and over again searching for answers to the same questions he has been asking for years.
I think many listeners hear a song, and assume that the writer has put these questions out into the world, and in doing so, figured out the solutions. In most cases, I think they live their whole lives searching for the answers, and the songs become repetitive, if not in words, at least in meaning.
Back to the above lyrics...
1) Questioning a girl's intentions and why they act the way they do, and how no man wants to be part of a girl's haunted past, but rather a part of their blessed present
2) In Lemon World, he is referencing war, and in this case, it seems more of a war within one's self, and the actual fakeness and distance of the things that happen in LA, or on TV
3) In Karen, he says they should ask her father for advice on changing the ways of a wayward soul... Here, I think he says they shouldn't have asked him, because they followed the advice, but it didn't work
4) "I am secretly in love with, everyone that I grew up with"... but I don't have what it takes to be open and honest with them about everything I feel, I just show up out of the blue when I need them or when it is convenient, without worrying if they are prepared for the visit or not
I guess in the end, this song probably contains about 20 meanings, and I don't think I could ever figure them all out... He is a very talented writer...