I love this song and Peter Gabriel's "So" CD in general. It's been my driving music for several weeks (!) because I keep forgetting to bring it in the house. But the point I wanted to make is that secular music takes on an entirely new dimension when processed through a Biblical perspective. My guess is that this was written as a love song. It was used in the 1989 Cameron Crowe film "Say Anything" and I don't find anything written saying Gabriel intended it as anything otherwise.
But, when I hear this song, I hear words that speak of the irresistible pull of God:
"Days
pass and this emptiness fills my heart. When I want to run away I drive
off in my car. But whichever way I go I come back to the place you are.
All my instincts, they return and the grand facade so soon will burn,
without a noise, without my pride, I reach out from the inside"
I hear words of redemption:
"In your eyes, the light the heat, in your eyes I am complete
In your eyes I see the doorway to a thousand churches. In your eyes, the
resolution of all the fruitless searches. In your eyes, the light the
heat. In your eyes, oh I want to be that complete."
And I hear of longing fulfilled, love for love:
"Love,
I don't like to see so much pain, so much wasted and this moment keeps
slipping away. I get so tired of working so hard for our survival. I
look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive."
It's
a great CD no matter the perspective from which you listen. I just
think it's interesting that the framework from which we view reality and
make sense of life and the world can be impacted to such a degree as to
completely change the meaning of lyrics in a song. I know we all see art, hear poetry and read stories in a subjective manner and in my mind, this makes created works even more miraculous.
