Written by: Aaron Tate
Appears on: Original Demo (1993), My Calm//Your Storm, Self Titled, Guild 1
Lyrics:
I mount up with waxen wings
High to reach the sun
And I am no further than
Than when I first begun
So I build a mount of Athos
To shape your form against the sky
With my home in your hands
To show all the people why
To show all the people why
Everything I do
It’s not enough for you
Everything I do
It’s not enough
It’s not enough for you
In the garden of my pride
The lamented lime tree
Too stupid to cry for rain
fruitless and choked out by weeds
So I write a book of life
Using the best words I can find
For some struggler to snuggle up
When the world becomes unkind
When the world becomes unkind
I find direction in east-bound clouds
And long for what they have
But when I step into its midst
Its substance I cannot grasp
So I paint a portrait of you
As if you had human disguise
With oil and canvas to be clay
To open up their eyes
Like you opened up my eyes
See also: MusicBrainz.
The band has always referred to this song as their upbeat worship song. The basic theme of it is that nothing we ever do will be “enough” for God; that God’s love and His salvation have nothing to do with our ‘works’, and the only thing that saves us is His grace. This song is about rejoicing in that fact.
“I mount up with waxen wings, high to reach the sun”…refers to the mythological story of Icarus, who ignored warnings not to fly too high with his wax wings and eventually got so close to the sun that they melted and he died. More on Icarus, click here.
“So I build a mount of Athos to shape your form against the sky”…Mount Athos is the oldest and largest Christian monastery in the world. It is a monastic city situated on a large mountainous peninsula in eastern Greece, and it is dedicated entirely to the serene worship of God. More on Mount Athos here.
“For some struggler to snuggle up, When the world becomes unkind”…This line could have two different perspectives. One would be from God’s perspective, speaking toward mankind about the Bible. The other could be from Aaron’s perspective, as the author of songs that are relatable for people who are struggling. I (Megan) tend to lean toward the second perspective that Aaron wrote it about himself.
“I find direction in East-bound clouds”…this could be referring to God, when he appeared as a cloud in the day to the wandering Israelites.