He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
I know you want it
I know you really wanna get it right
Have you forsaken, have you mistaken me for someone else?
Saturday night you sleep with a rifle at your side
Delivering speeches, delivering speeches left and right
Follow those created deaths
Fortune save me from his wrath
Spaceship out the house at night
Prophet speak what's on your mind
You know you really gotta get right with the Lord
You know you really gotta get right with the Lord
Visit the future, visit the future from the outer space (space space space space)
A ring of fire, a ring of fire falling on your face (face face face face)
You dream of the dark age, you dream of the dark age of your youth
Consider the danger, consider the danger, as it moves
Prophet, loyal priest and king
(I know you want it, I know you really want it)
Snake-skinned master at your feet
(I know you want it, I know you really want it)
Barricade the bathroom doors
(I know you want it, I know you really want it)
Find some things you can't ignore
(I know you want it, I know you really want it)
I know you really gotta get right with the Lord
You know you really gotta get right with the Lord
You know you really gotta get right with the Lord
You know you really gotta get right with the Lord
I know I've caused you trouble
I know I've caused you pain
But I must do the right thing
I must do myself a favor and get real
Get right with the Lord
I know I've lost my conscience, I know I've lost all shape
But I must do the right thing
I must do myself a favor and get real
Get right with the Lord
I know I've always loved you
I know I've always been
But I must do the right thing
I must do myself a favor and get real
Get right with the Lord
Get real, get right for you will not be distracted by the signs
Do not be distracted by them
Do your self a favor and get real
Get right with the Lord
Get real, get right for you will not be distracted by the signs
Do not be distracted by them
Do yourself a favor and get real
Get right with the lord
Get real get right with the Lord
Get real get right with the Lord
I know you really wanna get it right
Have you forsaken, have you mistaken me for someone else?
Saturday night you sleep with a rifle at your side
Delivering speeches, delivering speeches left and right
Follow those created deaths
Fortune save me from his wrath
Spaceship out the house at night
Prophet speak what's on your mind
You know you really gotta get right with the Lord
You know you really gotta get right with the Lord
Visit the future, visit the future from the outer space (space space space space)
A ring of fire, a ring of fire falling on your face (face face face face)
You dream of the dark age, you dream of the dark age of your youth
Consider the danger, consider the danger, as it moves
Prophet, loyal priest and king
(I know you want it, I know you really want it)
Snake-skinned master at your feet
(I know you want it, I know you really want it)
Barricade the bathroom doors
(I know you want it, I know you really want it)
Find some things you can't ignore
(I know you want it, I know you really want it)
I know you really gotta get right with the Lord
You know you really gotta get right with the Lord
You know you really gotta get right with the Lord
You know you really gotta get right with the Lord
I know I've caused you trouble
I know I've caused you pain
But I must do the right thing
I must do myself a favor and get real
Get right with the Lord
I know I've lost my conscience, I know I've lost all shape
But I must do the right thing
I must do myself a favor and get real
Get right with the Lord
I know I've always loved you
I know I've always been
But I must do the right thing
I must do myself a favor and get real
Get right with the Lord
Get real, get right for you will not be distracted by the signs
Do not be distracted by them
Do your self a favor and get real
Get right with the Lord
Get real, get right for you will not be distracted by the signs
Do not be distracted by them
Do yourself a favor and get real
Get right with the lord
Get real get right with the Lord
Get real get right with the Lord
Lyrics submitted by strykerchick
Get Real Get Right Lyrics as written by Sufjan Stevens
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Sufjan sees his own affliction/gift whatever in Royal. They both see prophetic images of the future, which include UFOs. Royal doesn’t get the imagery, so he might have a picture in his mind of the world splitting in four, but thinks its revenge against unfaithful women, when it’s really….well, just end times, perhaps, according to Sufjan. Me, I don’t doubt they’re seeing something…and I wouldn’t be shocked if Sufjan’s genius was a slightly mad kind of genius.
Anyway I think Sufjan wishes he could’ve talked to Royal and helped him figure out these things, help him get real, get right with the Lord.
Get real, get right For you will not be distracted by the signs Do not be distracted by them Do yourself a favor and get real Get right with the lord Get real, get right with the Lord
This ties in with Impossible Soul's "don't be distracted..."
More writeup: bit.ly/ckp61J
When I saw Sufjan in Salt Lake, he spent a good ten minutes introducing this song, essentially told Royal's whole story, and then said that the song is meant as kind of a reality check directed both at Royal and at himself.
‘I know I've lost my conscious, I know I've lost all shape’
i think should be
‘I know I've lost my conscience, I know I've lost my shame’
make that ’ALL shame’
Thank you!
I feel like this song almost contradicts other aspects of the album. It's a known fact that Sufjan is quite a devout Christian, however in The Age of Adz he says, "When I die, when I die, I'll rot. But when I live, when I live, I'll give it all I've got." Not exactly Christian doctrine. However, it's contrasted by this song and its almost evangelical lyrics. I'm not sure if it's him saying it to Royal, or if it's him saying it to himself, or him saying it to anyone who has not yet, or is not willing to, "get real, get right with the Lord". As an Atheist, I'd like to think that he's speaking to himself, or willing Royal not to be distracted. When I saw him he did say this was his song for Royal... I'm not debating that. I just can't decide what kind of message he's trying to convey through those lines, and it's interesting how different it is to the sentiment displayed in Age of Adz, and also in Casimir Pulaski Day on Illinoise, where he says, "Tuesday night at the Bible study, we lift our hands and pray over your body but nothing ever happens" and then "and He takes, and He takes, and He takes". It's almost as if he knows what he believes and what he wants to believe, but he accepts the shortcomings of the Christian faith and also accepts the possibility that none of it is true. ... Just an interesting aspect I notice in his music...
I'm not sure if it's a main theme/thrust of the song, but he seems to be discussing not being dead at the end, but the Kingdom of Heaven/the Kingdom of God. This facet of biblical doctrine concerns Christ's many "kingdom parables" and the fact that there is only a limited time of the Kingdom during this fallen world (before Christ's physical return.) This limited time is the time for evangelical work and for the work of the Holy Spirit for salvation. When Sufjan says that when he dies he'll rot, it seems not to be a contrast with Christian doctrine, but a reference to his inability to do "Kingdom work;" but while he lives, he'll give all he's got to the Kingdom.<br /> <br /> Further, when he recognizes, as you noted, that God takes and that prayer doesn't do anything, he's again not contradicting biblical doctrine, but upholding it. He recognized that God, in his (loving) justice, cannot merely give freely to those who have transgressed his law, but he takes from us what is not ours, but his. And the prayers of men are powerless in all aspects; it is the loving God ho hears and "works all things together for the good of those who love him." <br /> <br /> You don't have to believe these things, and in the postmodern spirit, I'm sure you assumed that. But a postmodern shortcoming is separating the artist from his art, as though they have no connection bu at the instant of creation. You haven't necessarily done this, but I don't think that Sufjan is at all saying the Christian faith might not be all true. He recognizes the perfection of Christ and the horrible, twisted nature of man and of Christians.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Robertson
I don't hear the 'The' in the chorus -- It sounds more like "Get real get right with [Lor...]"
This is almost Sufjan rapping, I love it
This is interesting because distraction is a number one killer of any kind of work or good thing. A good life is characterized by focusing and channeling one's energy and attention, not by compulsively indulging every single shiny idea no matter how compelling and revealing. The former brings peace, the latter anxiety and confusion. The former is an expression of humility or the awareness and acceptance of one's mental limits.
Did anyone else think of Sarah Palin?
LOL
That was funny novolover. :) oolooloo, I agree that he seems to be speaking for himself. TemproaryLife, I've also heard Sufjan say "this song is for Royal". I've also heard him say he started bringing dance into the tour more and more as he continued to wrestle with "what do all these songs mean". Well, at least we are here to entertain that idea! Personally, I like the visuals of the end times involving space craft landing in the back yard and locking yourself in the bathroom trying to stay focused on the lord.
When I saw him live, he prefaced the song with a very long, rambly monologue about Royal Robertson. Basically, this is his song to and for Royal.