Written by: Aaron Tate
Appears on: My Calm//Your Storm
Lyrics:
Outside the city walls
Alone with what I’ve known
Like a criminal who sly-thieves joy
From his own home
Some just line says I should die by fire
So I’m cutting up the kindling
And the kerosene I cry
Take these suicidal stones from my hand
Suicidal Stones from my hand
Suicidal Stones from my hand
Caught in the
Actor on regret’s stage
Soliloquy without sympathy
is my penance paid
Built on quicksand
Too low to see the ground
Sniveling in a Job-en cry while I look down
Comment scrawled in the dirt
For the pity-boy cowered in hurt
Of a bridge that instead is burning
And a new boy that instead is learning
That it’s harder sometimes to be than not
And it’s easier forgiven than forgot
He says it’s by the tree that you have died
It’s by the tree that you’re alive
See also: MusicBrainz.
The general idea of this song seems to be somewhat similar to the song, “Forget What You Know”, which follows it on the album. The song is written from the perspective of someone who is struggling with sin and plagued with guilt. Many of the biblical references in the song come from John 8.
“Like a criminal who sly-theives joy from his own home”…refers to the conflict between his old and new nature. His carnal nature is stealing joy from who he is now in Christ.
“So I’m cutting up the kindling…”…he’s so guilt-ridden, he’s figuratively preparing the fire he is to be burnt at.
“Take these suicidal stones from my hand”…just like the pharisees were about to do to the adulterous woman in John 8, this man is ready to stone himself to death for the sins he’s committed. He’s crying out for someone (or God) to take the stones from his hand.
“Comment scrawled in the dirt”…refers to what Jesus did in John 8:6. Though many scholars have guessed at what Jesus drew or wrote in the dirt, noone knows for sure.
“It’s easier forgiven than forget”…like the message of “Forget What You Know”, even though we know we’re forgiven in Christ, it is often hard for our minds to let go of the sins of our past.