so here's the deal, i joined this site just to write about this song, so hopefully someone, anyone will read this.
poetry relies heavily on double meanings, so much of the song is a double meaning, based off of the last words. there are some lines that apply only to the present boy, but many of them apply to the "son of man" as well.
from what i've heard, kearney is a Christian, and that informs a lot of this song, there's quite a few people who have hit on a few good things in here, so i won't talk about those, but here's a couple
"young boys turning there backs to take a shot"
i think this is talking about gossip, the song deals a lot with verbal abuse, it could be purely a physical shot, but then turning their backs makes no sense, it only makes sense in the context of the verse if it's talking about even young boys, already turning their backs and picking on him.
"they're the stoning and leaving type"
stoning is the old testament way of execution, happens in the new testament too, but it's become colloquial for persecution of any sort, it's come to refer to any act where a group of people gang up (often unnecessarily) on another individual and "kill" him, or abuse him in some way.
"it was just a pair of shoes in a middle school room with the world watchin' in"
ah middle school, those days when everyone hates everyone, the awkward years. this line is all about the humiliation that we get from people, if you look at the context about lining up books and buying all the perfect clothes (even if they are black and bullet proof) it's about trying to find acceptance, but he can't find it from anyone around him, evidenced by that they were mocking him for having the shoes he did.
i think the 20 years comment is just a really great commentary on the way we hurt by the things said to us.
the next stanza is only about the boy, and you can see that because of the ambiguity of "man" afterwards "what's a boy to do with no man in his heart" it's a Christian belief to say that a person becomes the "temple of God" after "salvation" so ultimately, i see "no man in his heart" as almost a literal statement of what is a boy supposed to do without the son of man, or Jesus, in his heart. and by the way, in 1 John in the new testament, light and dark is the predominant imagery for having the son of man, or not having him.
Finally, yes, i think it's a suicide, and this is just a guess, but it makes sense, the next time his family would have seen him would have been under a white sheet, as they came to identify the body. the next time any "friends" would have seen him, he would have been politely covered up. so their greeting is a white sheet, covering death, when there should have been a holy kiss instead.
what's the holy kiss? in the New Testament, again, paul says to greet one another with a "holy kiss" it's a sign of acceptance and affection between friends, between those who fellowship together. So in saying there should have been a holy kiss, it didn't have to be this way, he's saying that rather than acceptance and love, signified by the "holy kiss" his only greeting was a white sheet when he was dead.
The final line about the son of man and a boy shows the likeness of the two, that the son of man went through the same sort of thing, being an outcast, not receiving acceptance, to the point of his death, his greeting to the world wasn't a holy kiss, but the kiss of death.
this makes sense of the stoning line, since the son of man also felt the same thing, they tried to stone him, and it was the love that came and went, even from his human family it came and went as can be seen when he enters jerusalem and they're singing hosanna, only to shout even louder crucify him at the end of that same week.
This song isn't just about a father, the image of a father is used, but it's for the broader purpose of looking at pain and acceptance, which even saying that cheapens the meaning, it's about an intimacy in experience with the "son of man" who stood silent like a lamb before the slaughter, and the boy who died every time he couldn't draw his knife to retaliate, even though he may have been "fully capable".
there are a lot more of things like that in this song, but i think i've written more than anyone will want to read
i definitely agree with the suicide part. this is really just a sad song.
"it's all quiet for the first time,
with no voices left to fall i saw.
a boy at the bottom of the bridge and his car at the top"
i definitely agree with the suicide part. this is really just a sad song.
"it's all quiet for the first time,
with no voices left to fall i saw.
a boy at the bottom of the bridge and his car at the top"
that is just sad. but the song as a whole is just amazing.
that is just sad. but the song as a whole is just amazing.
so here's the deal, i joined this site just to write about this song, so hopefully someone, anyone will read this.
poetry relies heavily on double meanings, so much of the song is a double meaning, based off of the last words. there are some lines that apply only to the present boy, but many of them apply to the "son of man" as well.
from what i've heard, kearney is a Christian, and that informs a lot of this song, there's quite a few people who have hit on a few good things in here, so i won't talk about those, but here's a couple
"young boys turning there backs to take a shot"
i think this is talking about gossip, the song deals a lot with verbal abuse, it could be purely a physical shot, but then turning their backs makes no sense, it only makes sense in the context of the verse if it's talking about even young boys, already turning their backs and picking on him.
"they're the stoning and leaving type"
stoning is the old testament way of execution, happens in the new testament too, but it's become colloquial for persecution of any sort, it's come to refer to any act where a group of people gang up (often unnecessarily) on another individual and "kill" him, or abuse him in some way.
"it was just a pair of shoes in a middle school room with the world watchin' in"
ah middle school, those days when everyone hates everyone, the awkward years. this line is all about the humiliation that we get from people, if you look at the context about lining up books and buying all the perfect clothes (even if they are black and bullet proof) it's about trying to find acceptance, but he can't find it from anyone around him, evidenced by that they were mocking him for having the shoes he did.
i think the 20 years comment is just a really great commentary on the way we hurt by the things said to us.
the next stanza is only about the boy, and you can see that because of the ambiguity of "man" afterwards "what's a boy to do with no man in his heart" it's a Christian belief to say that a person becomes the "temple of God" after "salvation" so ultimately, i see "no man in his heart" as almost a literal statement of what is a boy supposed to do without the son of man, or Jesus, in his heart. and by the way, in 1 John in the new testament, light and dark is the predominant imagery for having the son of man, or not having him.
Finally, yes, i think it's a suicide, and this is just a guess, but it makes sense, the next time his family would have seen him would have been under a white sheet, as they came to identify the body. the next time any "friends" would have seen him, he would have been politely covered up. so their greeting is a white sheet, covering death, when there should have been a holy kiss instead.
what's the holy kiss? in the New Testament, again, paul says to greet one another with a "holy kiss" it's a sign of acceptance and affection between friends, between those who fellowship together. So in saying there should have been a holy kiss, it didn't have to be this way, he's saying that rather than acceptance and love, signified by the "holy kiss" his only greeting was a white sheet when he was dead.
The final line about the son of man and a boy shows the likeness of the two, that the son of man went through the same sort of thing, being an outcast, not receiving acceptance, to the point of his death, his greeting to the world wasn't a holy kiss, but the kiss of death.
this makes sense of the stoning line, since the son of man also felt the same thing, they tried to stone him, and it was the love that came and went, even from his human family it came and went as can be seen when he enters jerusalem and they're singing hosanna, only to shout even louder crucify him at the end of that same week.
This song isn't just about a father, the image of a father is used, but it's for the broader purpose of looking at pain and acceptance, which even saying that cheapens the meaning, it's about an intimacy in experience with the "son of man" who stood silent like a lamb before the slaughter, and the boy who died every time he couldn't draw his knife to retaliate, even though he may have been "fully capable".
there are a lot more of things like that in this song, but i think i've written more than anyone will want to read
I think this has to be one of the best descriptions, if not the best description of the song. Thanks!
I think this has to be one of the best descriptions, if not the best description of the song. Thanks!
i definitely agree with the suicide part. this is really just a sad song. "it's all quiet for the first time, with no voices left to fall i saw. a boy at the bottom of the bridge and his car at the top"
i definitely agree with the suicide part. this is really just a sad song. "it's all quiet for the first time, with no voices left to fall i saw. a boy at the bottom of the bridge and his car at the top"
that is just sad. but the song as a whole is just amazing.
that is just sad. but the song as a whole is just amazing.