This is a tough one. I've been trying to figure out what Gira is trying to say in this song for quite a while, but have never come to any conclusions. I have a few ideas as to the meanings of certain parts.
Building on many of the existential themes of the album, here I think Gira is expressing a certain anger towards God. Songs titles such as "Why Are We Alive?" point to obvious questions and a search for meaning in his life.
"How can they hold what they can never perceive?" seems to reference the idea of God as the source of love, and as love itself. I can't tell which way to interpret this... one way would be to see it from an ironic standpoint. Gira seems to despise the idea that love can exist here on Earth. If humans can never see God, or never know (You Know Nothing), how could they possibly hold it for one another... how could they (they being the theoretical relationship couple that exists in the first part of the song) know it's love? A second interpretation could be that, because of the lines that follow it, he's asking almost a question to which he follows with an answer. How could they know love? Well look around, the undeniable existence of "one second in your memory," "one heartbeat in your body," "white light on a black sky" are all pretty miraculous, which could be seen as the ultimate form of love given by God. However, he follows with the line "One lonely moment in your arms is the miracle of love," where his use of 'the' instead of 'a' might indicate that no, these aren't miracles, they aren't expressions of love, life is only loneliness and suffering. "One second denied is a miracle of love," again points to irony. It is the other half of the coin to the previous line "One second in your presence is a miracle of love." Seemingly contradictory, I think Gira seems to be asking how being in the presence of God could be a miracle of love, yet being on Earth, away from the presence of God, could also be (what many proclaim) as a miracle of love, how life, so full of suffering, could ever be an expression of God to his children.
"God said to no one to do what he did," I have always felt means the creation of life... having a child.
I would just like to point out that I'm not presupposing the existence of any God, nor that Gira believes any such thing. The fact that the song could be interpreted as ironic may point to the fact that Gira may not believe in such a thing. He might not be angry, so much as he might be mocking the idea.
I would just like to point out that I'm not presupposing the existence of any God, nor that Gira believes any such thing. The fact that the song could be interpreted as ironic may point to the fact that Gira may not believe in such a thing. He might not be angry, so much as he might be mocking the idea.
This is a tough one. I've been trying to figure out what Gira is trying to say in this song for quite a while, but have never come to any conclusions. I have a few ideas as to the meanings of certain parts.
Building on many of the existential themes of the album, here I think Gira is expressing a certain anger towards God. Songs titles such as "Why Are We Alive?" point to obvious questions and a search for meaning in his life.
"How can they hold what they can never perceive?" seems to reference the idea of God as the source of love, and as love itself. I can't tell which way to interpret this... one way would be to see it from an ironic standpoint. Gira seems to despise the idea that love can exist here on Earth. If humans can never see God, or never know (You Know Nothing), how could they possibly hold it for one another... how could they (they being the theoretical relationship couple that exists in the first part of the song) know it's love? A second interpretation could be that, because of the lines that follow it, he's asking almost a question to which he follows with an answer. How could they know love? Well look around, the undeniable existence of "one second in your memory," "one heartbeat in your body," "white light on a black sky" are all pretty miraculous, which could be seen as the ultimate form of love given by God. However, he follows with the line "One lonely moment in your arms is the miracle of love," where his use of 'the' instead of 'a' might indicate that no, these aren't miracles, they aren't expressions of love, life is only loneliness and suffering. "One second denied is a miracle of love," again points to irony. It is the other half of the coin to the previous line "One second in your presence is a miracle of love." Seemingly contradictory, I think Gira seems to be asking how being in the presence of God could be a miracle of love, yet being on Earth, away from the presence of God, could also be (what many proclaim) as a miracle of love, how life, so full of suffering, could ever be an expression of God to his children.
"God said to no one to do what he did," I have always felt means the creation of life... having a child.
That's about all I have. Feel free to add input.
I would just like to point out that I'm not presupposing the existence of any God, nor that Gira believes any such thing. The fact that the song could be interpreted as ironic may point to the fact that Gira may not believe in such a thing. He might not be angry, so much as he might be mocking the idea.
I would just like to point out that I'm not presupposing the existence of any God, nor that Gira believes any such thing. The fact that the song could be interpreted as ironic may point to the fact that Gira may not believe in such a thing. He might not be angry, so much as he might be mocking the idea.