Written by: Aaron Tate
Appears on: 40 Acres
Lyrics:
This old heart’s been left
Out on my sleeve
and I have paid as it’s been rent
into peices
Seems everyone I’ve loved has
Taken a bit of my insides
I’m scattered as the woman whose body
Was torn for the twelve tribes
When did my heart get so petrified
when did it get so hard to feel
when did my heart get so afraid to love
when did it get so hard
And the easy-living Gnostic proud
Use their knowledge
Like a wrecking ball to tear me down
Flooding me with their fallacies
I can’t walk on this water
I’m starting to drown
Strike this rock with your rod
I’ll take the blows
Till your living water begins to flow
as it flowed from the man of sorrow’s sides
on that day when his body
was torn for the twelve tribes
See also: MusicBrainz, iTunes.
Written from the perspective of someone who is weary and beaten down by leaving themself vulnerable, and having that vulnerability taken advantage of. The author feels he has left his ‘heart out on [his] sleeve’, and everyone he’s loved has ‘taken a bit of [his] insides’. Because of this, his heart has now become afraid to love, and has hardened and calloused over. This is something that many of us have experienced at one time or another.
“I’m scattered as the woman whose body was torn for the twelve tribes”…refers to the rather gruesome story found in Judges 19 of the woman who was raped and then hewn into 12 pieces with each piece being sent to each of the 12 tribes of Israel.
“And the easy-living Gnostic proud use their knowledge like a wrecking ball to tear me down.”…A gnostic is someone who believes that salvation comes through knowledge. It was a cult that was prevalent in the times of the early church. To read more about gnosticism, click here.
“Strike this rock with your rod”…refers to when God told Moses to strike the rock with his staff and water would appear to quench the thirst of the Israelites. (Exodus 17)
“…from the man of sorrow’s sides”…refers to Jesus on the cross, when the Roman soldier struck his side with the spear and blood and water flowed out. (John 19:34)