Rejoice

i think the song pretty much sums that up, don't you?

this is the one song on Control that disappointed me. The story is so compelling in Control, that I expected a better wrap up than this. I think that in Winners, the story is perfectly summated in the song "Winners Never Quit." But this seems lazy. The lyrics aren't interesting and it just doesn't carry the craftiness that usually accompanies Bazan's lyrics.

This song reminds me of the words of Ecclesiastes. “There is nothing new under the sun” and “life is meaningless” are two of the most commonly used phrases in the book, yet is ends like this song. Life does have meaning and it is found in God and keeping his commandments.
Bazan is right; it would be wonderful if life were meaningless. We could all just eat, drink, and be merry (although there is nothing wrong with doing that). If all we have going for us is in this life was chasing after sex (Rapture, Second Best), material possessions (Indian Summer, Progress), professional success, (Penetration) and comfort (Options, Progress), life isn't worth living. If life were meaningless then we would not have to worry about this story and death. We could forget it and know that life just sucks.
“But everything is so meaningful, and most everything turns to shit.” I could have never said that better. Things turn to shit. Yet, life is meaningful, so like the writer of Ecclesiastes, Bazan is right “Rejoice”.

whoa, couldn't have said it better myself

in an interviw i read he says this song is suppsed to be ambiguous and self contradictory

matty...do you have a link to that interview.

this is an amazing wrap-up.

it is most ways the answer to everything, he sums up my beliefs with out having to be a hoaky christian writer. Bazaans honesty is almost shocking and so pure and special.

I'm still stunned - I was hoping this song was mislabelled. I love Pedro, but this song blows huge. I better get that off my hard drive before my computer revolts...

David Bazan: "This used to be a song called, “the Stars”. It had a very similar chord-progression and melody. When it was “the Stars”, it was about a guy who had escaped the city for two or three days. He was out camping and drinking a lot of beer. At one point, he became very moved by the immense beauty of the stars. He had it in his mind that he wanted to be one with them somehow – as irrational a thought as it was. I can’t remember exactly what happened, but I know he didn’t want to go back to the city. I liked it pretty well, but something about it just didn’t work, so I came up with “Rejoice”. It’s a really simple lyric. The thing that is compelling to me is I never really decided if the chorus of, “Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice!” is sarcastic and mocking the idea of rejoicing in the face of the statement made previous to it, or if it was sincere, making it a paradoxical statement or something. People would ask, “Are you being serious at the end or are you being cynical?” And I honestly don’t know. It depends on how I’m feeling when I’m singing it. "