I met God On the edge of town
Where the wind meets the stillness
Where the darkness meets the light
Where the ocean meets the sky
Where the desert meets the rain
Where the earth meets the heavens
On the edge of town I met God

I asked God
Do one thing for me
Send me back in time
Send me to Seattle
Let me go
Find Kurt Cobain
Take away his gun
Take away his bullets
Talk to him
Make him wanna live
Tell him how we love him
Help him see his glory
God Said No
If I sent you back
If you really found him
You would only ask him
If he could
Help you get a deal
If he knows a lawyer
If he can help you
God Said No

I asked God
Do one thing for me
Send me back in time
Send me to Berlin
Let me find
The one they call Hitler
I will stalk him
I will bring him down
I will bring along
A powerful gun
Loaded with bullets
Obliterate his memory
God Said No
If I sent you back
You would get caught up
In theory and discussion
You would let your fears
Delay and distract you
You would make friends
You would take a lover
God Said No

I asked God
Do one thing for me
Send me back in time
Send me to Jerusalem
Let me go
Let me go find Jesus
Let me save his life
As they try to kill him
Let me take him down
Down from the cross
Take the iron from his body
Try to heal his wounds
God Said No
If I let you go
If you really found him
Walking with the cross
You would stare
Your tongue no longer working
Eyes no longer seeing
Ears no longer hearing
God said Time
Time belongs to me
Time's my secret weapon
My final advantage
God turned away
From the edge of town
I knew I was beaten
And that now was all I had
God Said No


Lyrics submitted by karei

God Said No song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    this is good...

    whitepoetton July 12, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this song is awesome...wow...thank god for letting you write this stuff...lol

    whitepoetton July 12, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    That you should not change the past. Everything happends for a reason. God has a plan. Also, that you really can't go back so work on doing it right the first time!!!

    Charrdon October 13, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Also, maybe that you shouldn't spend all your time thinking about the past but look forward and think of the future.

    Half Cabon March 26, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    yes, too bad no one could go back and change things, esp. the cobain suicide... ~Candice~ RIP Kurt

    candie1112on June 27, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Not really, in the last part of the song about Jesus, he basically states that you can't change the past, unless you are willing to change yourself in the process.

    But the other two passages about Cobain and Hilter, about God knowing that he would be selfish and not get the job done.

    I really like the last part, on it's on it's the most powerful.

    ckad79on December 22, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    one of my close friends died in a car accident a few days ago, he's so young, only 16. This song was played at the wake, and it's amazing. It's saying that everything happens for a reason because god decides it. And if you attempt to travel back in time to change it, there would be a different outcome, or you'd change to much. The final part always brings tears to my eyes because I think of my and how Time does belong to God and you can't go back, and no one will ever be able to bring him back.

    chocolate_abuseron January 31, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Whether you're atheist or devout or somewhere in between: if this song does not make you sob at least once, you arguably haven't heard it. Best religious/folk meditation since Cohen's "Hallelujah" and its ten zillion well-justified covers.

    raffishtenant2on June 21, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is so beautiful. To me the lyrics are both uplifting and saddening at the same time. For one, I feel encouraged to do everything I can now in the present to help everyone so that I don't look back in the past and wish "only if." However, at the same time I am exactly like the narrator in the fact that I constantly look back on the past thinking about how different things could have been. The grunge movement could have lasted longer into my teens, the world could have experienced so much less pain and heartache, and our savior could have lived a longer life full of inspiration and miracles.

    musicgirl429on May 13, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    This song is so beautiful. The last verse is more biblical, but the first two I think have profound meaning. I love how the narrator talks about saving the life of Kurt Cobain as as holy a deed as going back in time to kill Hitler. Both are viewed as equally as righteous, and I love how Bern relegates saving one life to be as important as saving millions.

    I also love how God in this song seems to not agree or disagree, but know that the narrator's 'humanness' would get in the way of him performing any of these deeds. It shows an awareness of the human condition in naked form, and Bern does a great job of writing from the point of view of what God might say.

    I am not really religious, but this song has such a wide meaning, giving sympathy to the pain of human existence while at the same time arguing for its salvation. A true work of art. I heard this song first as a cover and it has quickly become a favorite.

    marcus0548on November 25, 2012   Link

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