Sahara

Lying on my side knowing of thirst is how I'll die Chalk on my tongue Relying on the night beneath the dunes is where I lie to block the sun Trying to ignite some sort of passion from inside To overcome This feeling of desertion can't be worse than never having anyone

So I'll ask One thing Just one thing Of you Don't ever turn me loose Even when I turn my back

A lion on his side was it the lying or his pride Which brought him down Once the king of beasts but now they feast on the thoughts beneath his vacant crown trying to decide was it the lying or the pride Which brought it down To be alone to be dethroned believe me I know all about it now

I never told you then that I'd be easy to love Supposedly a man but I felt like a cub I wandered into the plains further and farther away Not ever knowing that I'd never come back the same As my organs gave way I swear I felt something burst It's been thirteen days and now I'm dying of thirst As for the birds of prey I pray that someone else will get here first But I am not alone I'll be alright Just take these bones and breathe them back to life

Now that lyrics are right here's what I think.

First, others have said that Matt T. writes songs in the form of a prayer. Matt T has said that although they incorporate their faith into their songs they don't want to be labeled as a Christian band, probably because that is a tight box to fit into.

By now if you have listened to the whole F&NSD album it is apparent that the whole thing is about "pressing on" while not diminishing the fact that there is pain and hurt when you lose someone you care for deeply but at the same time there is ocean of God's greatness and love that surrounds us if we only open our eyes and recognize it. Matt T's friend and singer/song writer Jon Foreman also wrote a song a while back called "Gone" (I think). In the outro he said "Life is more than girls..." Relient K, unlike other bands who write songs about losing people you love, gives way to the fact that God is still there and His love never ends. If you are looking for love in the world you most likely will not find it, at least the Real love you won't. Is possible to find in others? Yes. But God alone has the love which many of us long for but yet we turn away from Him and try to fulfill the dissatisfaction of our own heart by looking for love in the world, friends, girls, etc. The love which the world gives is empty it won't fill your heart completely, maybe for a moment or two but what's after that. Someone once said, "I looked at God and the dove of peace flew into my heart, I looked at the dove of peace and it flew away." Someone else said that life is like a jigsaw puzzle and God is the Big center puzzle piece. One can connect the edge pieces and few others, but without God in the center none of the other pieces make sense, life won't make sense without God in the center. The loving, vital, and personal relationship with God should be first above all. Secondly, the love between a man and a woman does exist. I just think it is harder and harder to see and find the love where two people care about the other and others more than themselves and don't insist on their way especially where in songs and society we are often misled into focusing on ourselves and our wants and our desires and our feelings and what love brings to us, instead of the other way around. We've been trained to think almost completely backwards.

Now what I think the song means. "I never told you then that I'd be easy to love" - I think in the bridge, and the whole song, that the "you" is referring to God. I never told God then that I'd be easy to love. I think for a moment Matt T may have been so down that he turned his back on God in some way. Matt say this to God because Matt knows that it is not easy to love someone that turns their back on you (in Matt's case it was a girl, in God's case it was Matt who turned his back).

"Supposedly a man but I felt like a cub" - What is man? A fun loving party guy with a six pack? No. A man is one who knows his responsibility and accountability to God. A man is one who keeps God in the center of his life. It's apparent from Matt's songs that he has a relationship with God, at least that's what it sounds like. But he felt like a cub and had a desire to chase things, a girl perhaps.

"I wandered into the plains further and farther away" - "wandered" is a word I would relate to being lost. Maybe M@ wandered away chasing a girl, or maybe this "wandering" took place after he was dejected by this girl in order to get away (That's how he wrote this album, away from everything in solitude in the country). "further and farther away" from what or from whom (God or the girl)?

"Not ever knowing that I'd never come back the same"

"As my organs gave way I swear I felt something burst" - Investing a lot (of time, thought, care, and love) in a person can hurt when it all burns down in the end and it doesn't end the way it looked like it would.

"It's been thirteen days and now I'm dying of thirst" - Maybe thirteen days without a thought to God. Who knows where the lyrical wisdom of "thirteen days" comes from? The real point: "I'm dying of thirst" ok. John 4:13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." John 6:35 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. Matthew 5:6 Blessed [are] those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

"As for the birds of prey I pray that someone else will get" - For those who think M@ writes songs in the form of a prayer. By his lyrical subtleties he incorporates his faith into his songs. As for the birds of prey I think is a reference back to feeling like a cub chasing the birds which look so good and it might feel so right, but he prays someone else will get there first so he doesn't fall into that trap of becoming alive to the world and his desires and def to God. Someone else will get here first - God is the only one who has the power to change a person. He needs God's help.

"But I am not alone" - (A) Realizes that there are many others with the same pain and hurts as he. (B) He realizes that there are people around him who care for him besides the just the girl. (C) Realizes the True Friendship and comfort of the Holy Spirit of God (I know that sounds a little charismatic, but I'll save that argument for another time). Or (D) All of the above.

"'ll be alright" - Light at the end of a tunnel, hope of a new day (Romans 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.), It's not the end (take this experience and learn from it and move forward).

"Just take these bones and breathe them back to life" - Job 33:4 The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Breathe them back to life. Who? Only God has that power. It's now evident who Matt is talking to. He's talking to God. Is it a prayer? I don't know.

Similar to the story of the Prodigal son in the book of Matthew.

Listen folks everyone ends up in one of two places. If you want the better, eternal life in heaven, you need to believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of the living God, that He came to this earth in the flesh and died on the cross paying the price for your sins and that God raised Him up from the dead on the third day. Many people say yeah I believe that, but just believing it won't get you anywhere unless there is truly a change of heart and ways and truly place your trust in Him. Not only confessing that Jesus Christ is the Savior the only one that can save you from sin, death and hell,that He is the only way to Heaven (Not your works or anything you have done, but Christ alone is the way the truth and the life) but also: 1) find a church so you might hear the preaching of the Word and rejoice in the fellowship of other Christians, 2) study the Bible for that is where we learn of God and His plans, 3) pray to Him to strengthen your faith and increase your love toward Him, and 4) enjoy the blessings given by God in the heavenly ordained sacraments: baptism and the Lord's Supper. All of these will work to encourage and build upon your faith.

I think its about going throu a hard time... and he's asking God to love him even when hes angry at him and turns around :)

i think this song is another relating to Matt's break up with his fiance, and the feeling of loneliness, and emptiness that comes after a tough breakup. also he mentions how it changes him forever in some way.

Something to keep in mind is that everything that Relient K writes tends to have multiple viewpoints to look at it from. It's more than likely that Thiessen wrote this song about the situation following the break up. Like Mayduke and fluffball wrote, The past tense usage in verse 2 and the already set in "feeling of desertion" mean this song is written to God about the hard time he is facing, not to the opposing person. There's great imagery in this song about the feelings he's going through, but sorry to say that the words pride and lying/lion are not puns, just clever word play, which is excellent.

1st verse: "Knowing of thirst is how I've died"

2nd verse: "To be alone, to be de-throned"

bridge: I never told you then, That i'd be easy to love Supposedly I'm a man but i felt like a cub I wandered into the plains, further and farther away not ever knowing that I'd never come back the same

As my organs gave way, I swear felt something burst It's been 13 days and I'm dying of thirst. For the birds who prey I pray that someone else will get here first.

I am not alone, I'll be alright

The word 'lying' is interchangeable with 'lion' i think is what lyricalcatharsis meant. And it's "Chalk on my tongue" not choke on my tongue.

i think it's about how he cheated on his fiance "turned aside" and she cut him lose, and now he's asking God to never do the same, because he stays with us and doesn't treat us as we deserve. it's pretty amazing, one of the focal points of christianity is how Christ's love transcends human love.

There are two puns in this song: lion=lying, and pride meaning a group of lions and pride meaning the opposite of humility. This song is about loneliness and regret. He's separated from the one he loves, recklessly ran away, and is suffering. He realises he's made a mistake, and he's begging his loved one not to let him go, but fight for the relationship even when he himself has given up ("even when I turn my back"). The whole thing (Sahara) is a metaphor that's building up to the two following songs: Oasis and Savannah.

It is definitely about loneliness but he is also wondering what got him there. The lying or the pride. He seems to be regretful of the things that he's done that've caused his loneliness.

"As long it gave way, I swear felt something worse It's been 13 days and I'm dying of thirst. For the birds who prey I pray that someone else will get here first."

=Aaron Gillespie

and the 4 lines before that are either Tim Skipper or Matt MacDonald, I can't tell which is which

The corrects lyrics are:

"I never told you then that I'd be easy lure, Supposedly I'm a man but I felt like a cub, I wandered into the plains further and farther away, Not ever knowing that I'd never come back the same, As my organs gave way I swore I felt something burst, It's been 13 days and I'm dying of thirst, For the birds of prey i pray that someone else would get here first I am not alone, I'll be alright, just take these bones and breath them back to life"