The line "Jesus tried to love us all" should be "Jesus, Captain of my soul." It's definitely "Captain" to tie back into the "little ships" reference, and ties much more obviously into the "be a friend to me".
The song contrasts the hypocrisy of dead religiousness with the childlike simplicity of true faith. "Try to teach my children ... from love and conviction to pray" are not the words of someone rejecting the Christian faith. Rather, the lyrics highlight the difference between a pharisaical self-righteousness that leads to superficial thinking ("After death it's so much fun") and evil acts done in the name of God ("It wrecks me how they justify their acts of war / they assemble, they pray") versus the sincere, earnest faith of someone truly devoted to God (as shown by the voices of the children in the chorus).
This is one of my favorite songs of all time. I really appreciate that it is not just a blanket condemnation of Christianity but a call to turn away from dead religion to true faith.
@Synaesthete7
Partly I agree, partly I don't:
1st passage: yes, right
2nd passage: For me the song not only about dead religiousness but especially of blindly following people and words, about indoctrination and a misuse of words (here in particular a warning about the danger of misused religous statements). An important part of indoctronation is obtained by ritualized constant repetitions of words and of actions. I heard the song for the first time when I was 13 and I remember my ambivalent feelings when I heard the children's choir, the seeming "childlike simplicity" was overshadowed with "children unsuspectingly and naively repeating over and...
@Synaesthete7
Partly I agree, partly I don't:
1st passage: yes, right
2nd passage: For me the song not only about dead religiousness but especially of blindly following people and words, about indoctrination and a misuse of words (here in particular a warning about the danger of misused religous statements). An important part of indoctronation is obtained by ritualized constant repetitions of words and of actions. I heard the song for the first time when I was 13 and I remember my ambivalent feelings when I heard the children's choir, the seeming "childlike simplicity" was overshadowed with "children unsuspectingly and naively repeating over and over what the priests instilled into them" (what MattScales described as "the brainwashed school children's voices" on May 08, 2009 in this list of comments).
I agree with you on your sentence "Try to teach my children ... from love and conviction to pray" are not the words of someone [totally] rejecting the Christian faith [or religion in general].
Verse 3 in total:
"Try to teach my children
To recognize excuse before it acts
From love and conviction to pray"
For me the first two line could mean this: "I try to teach my children to see through early enough if people try to instil excuses into them first to justify their subsequent (bad) actions, their (mis)behaviour." There are nice words, pictures, stories, parables pictures like "we are a group of little sheep; we should not go astray" and "Jesus is the Captain of our soul" etc. This misleading begins when these pictures are filled with more military conception of "Captain" and "leadership" ...
Mayby I got these lines wrong, because I'm not native speaker.
The line "Jesus tried to love us all" should be "Jesus, Captain of my soul." It's definitely "Captain" to tie back into the "little ships" reference, and ties much more obviously into the "be a friend to me".
The song contrasts the hypocrisy of dead religiousness with the childlike simplicity of true faith. "Try to teach my children ... from love and conviction to pray" are not the words of someone rejecting the Christian faith. Rather, the lyrics highlight the difference between a pharisaical self-righteousness that leads to superficial thinking ("After death it's so much fun") and evil acts done in the name of God ("It wrecks me how they justify their acts of war / they assemble, they pray") versus the sincere, earnest faith of someone truly devoted to God (as shown by the voices of the children in the chorus).
This is one of my favorite songs of all time. I really appreciate that it is not just a blanket condemnation of Christianity but a call to turn away from dead religion to true faith.
@Synaesthete7 Partly I agree, partly I don't: 1st passage: yes, right 2nd passage: For me the song not only about dead religiousness but especially of blindly following people and words, about indoctrination and a misuse of words (here in particular a warning about the danger of misused religous statements). An important part of indoctronation is obtained by ritualized constant repetitions of words and of actions. I heard the song for the first time when I was 13 and I remember my ambivalent feelings when I heard the children's choir, the seeming "childlike simplicity" was overshadowed with "children unsuspectingly and naively repeating over and...
@Synaesthete7 Partly I agree, partly I don't: 1st passage: yes, right 2nd passage: For me the song not only about dead religiousness but especially of blindly following people and words, about indoctrination and a misuse of words (here in particular a warning about the danger of misused religous statements). An important part of indoctronation is obtained by ritualized constant repetitions of words and of actions. I heard the song for the first time when I was 13 and I remember my ambivalent feelings when I heard the children's choir, the seeming "childlike simplicity" was overshadowed with "children unsuspectingly and naively repeating over and over what the priests instilled into them" (what MattScales described as "the brainwashed school children's voices" on May 08, 2009 in this list of comments). I agree with you on your sentence "Try to teach my children ... from love and conviction to pray" are not the words of someone [totally] rejecting the Christian faith [or religion in general]. Verse 3 in total: "Try to teach my children To recognize excuse before it acts From love and conviction to pray" For me the first two line could mean this: "I try to teach my children to see through early enough if people try to instil excuses into them first to justify their subsequent (bad) actions, their (mis)behaviour." There are nice words, pictures, stories, parables pictures like "we are a group of little sheep; we should not go astray" and "Jesus is the Captain of our soul" etc. This misleading begins when these pictures are filled with more military conception of "Captain" and "leadership" ...
Mayby I got these lines wrong, because I'm not native speaker.