Surprised no one has thought or mentioned this, but this song has always struck me as having a very spiritual/religious message. In depth:
'I want the sun to shine on me'- wants to be enlightened
'truth to set me free'- truth of the existence of a divine being; free from doubt, worry, sin, etc.
'wish the followers would lead'- that people wouldn't just blindly follow religious leaders
'voice so strong it could knock me to my knees'- seems like a reference to biblical passages where an angel or God has spoken, and the person drops in fear/awe
Chorus- hey everybody, you might be wrong about the afterlife. nobody knows what lies past death, but he's not going to (I swear he says 'jump on' the 2nd time....maybe it's 'off' both times) jump off (like what moms like to say, 'If so-and-so jumps off a cliff, would you do it? lol) or jump on (the bandwagon, same thing, doing it bc others are). Then the next part is him asking for more time to figure it all out, life, its meaning, etc.
'if I jumped into the ocean to believe'- ref. the Jesus/Peter walk on water as a testament of faith
'climbed a mountain would i have to reach?'- maybe ref. to (from Wikipedia: Girnar), "In the Hindu religion, the legend is that climbing Girnar barefooted earns one a place in Heaven" and then him asking if that's the only way to be saved.
'question what I have seen'- question what he's been taught and not just take someone's word that it's real or correct. Question how a loving deity can allow such suffering in the world.
That's just what I get from it, anyway. I love this song (wish they had cut out 2:15-3:15ish, and the ending is a little drawn out, but the first part is a-mazing). If you love this song, listen to 'In the Sun', on the gulf relief cd with Coldplay and Joseph Arthur (actually his song). Michael's version is lovely. I could listen to him sing that song forever :)
Surprised no one has thought or mentioned this, but this song has always struck me as having a very spiritual/religious message. In depth:
'I want the sun to shine on me'- wants to be enlightened
'truth to set me free'- truth of the existence of a divine being; free from doubt, worry, sin, etc.
'wish the followers would lead'- that people wouldn't just blindly follow religious leaders
'voice so strong it could knock me to my knees'- seems like a reference to biblical passages where an angel or God has spoken, and the person drops in fear/awe
Chorus- hey everybody, you might be wrong about the afterlife. nobody knows what lies past death, but he's not going to (I swear he says 'jump on' the 2nd time....maybe it's 'off' both times) jump off (like what moms like to say, 'If so-and-so jumps off a cliff, would you do it? lol) or jump on (the bandwagon, same thing, doing it bc others are). Then the next part is him asking for more time to figure it all out, life, its meaning, etc.
'if I jumped into the ocean to believe'- ref. the Jesus/Peter walk on water as a testament of faith
'climbed a mountain would i have to reach?'- maybe ref. to (from Wikipedia: Girnar), "In the Hindu religion, the legend is that climbing Girnar barefooted earns one a place in Heaven" and then him asking if that's the only way to be saved.
'question what I have seen'- question what he's been taught and not just take someone's word that it's real or correct. Question how a loving deity can allow such suffering in the world.
That's just what I get from it, anyway. I love this song (wish they had cut out 2:15-3:15ish, and the ending is a little drawn out, but the first part is a-mazing). If you love this song, listen to 'In the Sun', on the gulf relief cd with Coldplay and Joseph Arthur (actually his song). Michael's version is lovely. I could listen to him sing that song forever :)