Come Down Lyrics
i was lucky to live, don't need to win
forgave myself and if that's a sin
it's not enough you'd even know it
you did right to call my bluff
'cause i won't say when i've had enough
and i worked so hard to need this stuff
and you tried so long to just ignore it
words are hidden, understand
i will not repeat myself again
it's another promise d.o.a.
and despite my every hope there is no truth
behind my best intentioned oath
won't you come down where i am
words are hidden, understand
won't you come down
been away to long, i know i have
there is healing in your hands
won't you come down where i am
words all leave me
been away too long
i know i've been away too long
i know i have
This has always sounded like a guy struggling with addiction to me. Well, him struggling with that and asking for help. "Worked so hard to need this stuff and you tried so long to just ignore it" is a common story. So in his mind, she is 'up here' and he's 'down there' and he's not asking her to come down into his problems, he's just asking her to "come down" to his level to "help (him) stand". And what gets me is "words are hidden, understand" because as someone who's dealt with someone close with a 'problem', yes, it's hard to even talk about having a problem, and even when asking for help, the words are usually hidden, assuming you'll understand. Quoting a friend, "I've got some stuff I'm going through, you know?" Took me awhile to "understand"!
It's about asking God to come down into the mess, about not having your prayers answered...
"You did right to call my bluff 'Cause I won't say when I've had enough" 1 Cor 10:13
Prayers not being answered"I won't repeat myself again I will not repeat myself again It's another promise D.O.A." [this part is so clever!!]
"And you tried so long to just ignore it...."
Healing "There is healing in your hands" + "Been away too long I know I've been away too long" [Jer.3:22] but perhaps, Ps. 6:2
In my own opinion, this seems like a song from a relationship that may have been on the outs. Like this guy is telling her that he realizes he messed up, but it's not worth dwelling on, they should work on it. He knows they've wasted time fighting.
It seems like a guy who keeps making all these promises to change and then shoots them down by his actions. Then he's saying that if whomever comes down to where he is it'll help him change. Unfortunately for him, he admits midway through the song that there's no truth in what he's saying.
P.S.: I've always like the simple irony of these two lines:
"i won't repeat myself again i will not repeat myself again"
I always pictured it as him singing to a girl who he deemed as better than him. He could try to make himself better to reach her level but knows he can't measure up. So instead he is asking to come down to his level.
Glen Phillips wrote this as an appology to his wife Laurel for being so reduntant all of the time
"I tend to ask the same questions over and over in slightly different ways" he said in a 97 interview about the song
It seems to me the narrator of the song is referring to a relationship where he feels inferior or beneath his partner, and by asking her to "come down" he means to come down to his level; where he is at.
The word man uses words. Words are hidden so that is why we have to search for them -- the right words. Say it one way, and then another way until the right words are found -- to articulate the real message.
But a lot of people don't dwell in the depths of working out how to perfectly express deeper messages. I know it annoys you, but this is me -- I'm sorry, but not really.
I imagine the song lyrics are literally from an actual interaction and we probably will never know the context. But I'm going to try and figure out a way of abstracting the essential message in a way that removes context and yet carries profound significance.
....... see ya in a week or two.