2 Meanings
Add Yours
Share
Q&A

The Greatest Gift Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Praise the mountain and the rain
All the gifts that still remain
But the greatest gift of all
And the law above all laws

[Chorus 1]
Is to love your friends and lovers
To lay down your life for your brothers
As you abide in peace
So will your delight increase

[Verse 2]
As the mystery of the cross
Is the love joy lost, the toss
And the fountain in the rain
Where my sorrow still remains

[Chorus 2]
So I run to my friends and lovers
I lay down my life for my brothers
As I abide in peace
So will my delight increase
Questions and Answers

Ask specific questions and get answers to unlock more indepth meanings & facts.

2 Meanings

Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.

Cover art for The Greatest Gift lyrics by Sufjan Stevens

Only need to read one sentence to understand the meaning of this song.

John 15:13 -- "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."

My Opinion
Cover art for The Greatest Gift lyrics by Sufjan Stevens

I wonder if he once considered ending Carrie and Lowell with this note of optimism. He wrote it for the album, after all. But I can see that it fights with the pain that permeated it. And we do that know that "signs and wonders" kept him alive.