Song Analysis

This would be my first blog post...ever, actually thats a lie. I used xanga before but that doesnt count. Basically I thought I would create a blog were I can go and vent my feelings on life. Wether it's about God, good things of course!, or a song I wrote, or complaining about how people walk slowly in the hallways. Either way it's a good thing.

Basically in my 1st hour class we where told to do a song analysis. I was gone that day, but I'm taking it to mean that we are supposed to convey what we think the artist is saying in his words. Pardon the format seeing it's for school.

The song I chose was by Aaron Shust entitled, “Give Me Words to Speak.” I chose this song because of the complexity of the lyrics. They were not written out to flow as most songs. The lyrics where obviously written from mind to the paper instantly, without any editing. In my opinion, these are how the greatest songs are created because it is what you believe in, and it makes for a more meaningful impact when you hear, or play the song.

The first verse is one that entangles the mind in a battle. The first couple of lines put your mind into “imagine mode” as you create an image of what Aaron is trying to portray. You see a young person, lost and confused, and beaten up. “Calloused and bruised. Dazed and confused.” So we have this image in our mind that someone has been hurt pretty bad, and they are trying to get back up on their feet after loosing a fight. They don’t know where to go, or what just happened. Then Aaron throws in a curve ball. He says that even though we are battered, we want something more. Something else is out there that we need to go and take, but it’s not something that we want. Not something that we dream of, but something more than that. Something that no earthly possession can tame our taste for, but we won’t rest until we find what it is we are searching for.

“My spirit is left wanting something more. Than my selfish hopes, and my selfish dreams.” So our image now takes this battered person who doesn’t know what they are doing, and turns them into someone who has been leading a life full of everything anyone could ever want, but yet yearns for something more. Their spirit and life has not had enough to taste, and they need to keep searching for something you can’t buy. Now that we have this image in our mind Aaron continues the verse by connecting the first couple lines to these words: “I’m lying with my face down on the floor. Crying out for more, and crying out for more.” So if we go back to our first image, someone who is lost and doesn’t have his head on right, battered, and beaten. Now we see him with his knees on the floor, and his face looking down in shame crying out for something to fill his spirit. Something that will bring true happiness to him that is not of material wealth. Something or someone?

This leads into the chorus, in my opinion these words make the song what it is. It says that we can’t think of anything to say. We don’t know what to do, what to say, what to give, we are still in that first image that we are still confused. We ask for God to give us something to say, or anything at all. Yet we will never rest until we know what to say, until we know what the right thing was. The spirit will never sleep if someone is not truly happy, or if they have not been given the gift of knowing God. Then Aaron nails it right on the head by saying “But I know that I owe you my life.” This blows my mind because as Aaron speaks these words, he knows that even though he’s been touring the country, and the world, that everything he does is still not good enough for Him. He still owes God his life for what we have received in return. “So give me words to speak. Don’t let my spirit sleep. Cause I can’t think of anything worth saying, but I know that I owe you my life. So give me words to speak, don’t let my spirit sleep.”
This leads us back into the verse. The second verse is just reinforcing the chorus. No matter what day it is, no matter what the weather is, no matter if the sun is up or if the sun is down, we still don’t know what to say. But we will wait for something, a sign, a hint, basically anything that will help guide us to the right direction. And yet a lot of times we are tempted by something else. Someone else’s voice is leading us away, and that is not the direction we want to go to. So as we stand there and wait patiently we ask for the words that we hear to only be from God’s voice. Let them be his words, let it be his voice, and let it be his way. “Every night, every day. I find that I have nothing I can say. So I stand here in silence. Awaiting your guidance. I’m wanting only your voice to be heard. Let them be your words, let them be your words.” This ends the second verse and leads into the chorus again, and we all know a song isn’t a song without a tag or bridge.

So now our image is this man. Bruised from the warpath of life, broken from the fights on the way, but yet he has everything anyone could ever want. A house, lots of money, cars, and anything his credit card will allow him to buy. Yet his spirit is not filled, and he won’t rest until he hears the words of where to go because he is still lost and confused and needs someone. He’s been living his whole life without having his life completely filled. He hasn’t seen it before because he was blinded, but he has awakened to see a void. Not only that, but he is now seeing all these lies that he has been living his life by these broken promises, broken hopes, and false gods. He doesn’t understand all this stuff that’s been going on. “I just don’t understand. This life that I’ve been living, I just don’t understand. I just don’t understand. I just don’t understand, these lies I’ve been believing, I just don’t understand. I just don’t understand.
This leads back into the chorus for a repeat to the finale. So the story of our image, this man, we have seen him cry, been beaten, confused, and has been hurt by not having something he’s wanted his whole life. Now at the end of the song, he has opened his eyes and he is now in the right direction. He is asking for God to give him words to speak, because he knows he owes his life.