Congregation Lyrics
The day he heard the lightning in the field.
I heard him clear his throat, a fork within the road.
That night that Tallahatchie took the wheel.
Now my world is in your hands.
Open your eyes, step in the light.
A jukebox generation.
Just as you were.
And they're singing like a bluebird in the round.
There's mystery in this wood and ghosts within these roots.
That are tangled deep beneath this southern ground.
Now my world is in your hands.
Open your eyes, step in the light.
A jukebox generation.
Just as you were.
Right!
Just as you were.
All right!
No false hope.
No false hope.
No false hope.
No false hope.
No false hope.
No false hope.
Open your eyes.
Step into the light!
The sound becomes, congregation.
A congregation.
A congregation.
Yeah!
This song is clearly about Kurt.
@moonlight1974 Where in the whole song's symbols and passages is Kurt Cobain??? I think that eternally bonding Dave Grohl to his past with Nirvana and Kurt Cobain is an overused cliché. There's more in Dave, as a songwriter than his former history with Kurt, yes, it surely is a fundamental part of his emotional baggage and maybe his darkest place; but Grohl has given us beautiful pieces of music which have nothing to do with his Nirvana experience.
@moonlight1974 Where in the whole song's symbols and passages is Kurt Cobain??? I think that eternally bonding Dave Grohl to his past with Nirvana and Kurt Cobain is an overused cliché. There's more in Dave, as a songwriter than his former history with Kurt, yes, it surely is a fundamental part of his emotional baggage and maybe his darkest place; but Grohl has given us beautiful pieces of music which have nothing to do with his Nirvana experience.
That being said, Sonic Highways is a mysterious album, and the general atmosphere feels kind of mystique to me. I am particularly...
That being said, Sonic Highways is a mysterious album, and the general atmosphere feels kind of mystique to me. I am particularly fascinated by these lines in this song:
"There’s mystery in this wood And ghosts within these roots That are tangled deep beneath this southern ground..."
Grohl tends to create storylines from nothing by observing particular facts of life or places he has been, and the reference to the Talahatchie River must definitely refer to some southern scenario.
I really like to think this song is about one of these cults or sects that thrive nowadays, some sort of initiation rite "open your eyes, step in the light...", "you need blind faith, no false hope". And definitely the leader of this cult "The voice upon the stage is a heart inside a cage". Perhaps the song is about a new member overwhelmed by the strange and newly found experience of believing in something "and they're singing like a bluebird in the round", most of any cult or religious organization has choirs. This most probably fictional character is idealizing the heart of the preacher, the elements of their temple, the words they speak, everything that's unknown to him.
The only element of the song I can't seem to figure out though is the "Jukebox Generation".
This song and lyrics were written based upon interviews and experiences in Nashville as a part of the Sonic Highways series on HBO. Give it a watch and you'll understand where each of the lyrics came from. Episode 3