Hosea's Wife Lyrics

Lyric discussion by organised-chaos. 

Cover art for Hosea's Wife lyrics by Brooke Fraser

i used to think the lyrics to the first verse were:

i just spoke silence with the sick girl next to me she had a heart with hesitant holding speed i turned to mine and asked belligerently 'what do i live for?'

...i thought that made sense since there was like a dying girl next to her and she was asking herself what she lived for! but i guess i was kind of off... altho the general meaning is the same

i really don't get the first verse with the right lyrics

otherwise i think the song is basically saying we spend so much time on the wrong stuff, and use people in all the wrong ways, and that there's a better way to live.