Woe Is Me! I Am So Homesick!

Expositing an album (in this case, Soul Asylum's Grave Dancer's Union) seemed like a good idea when I started… and I really love that I have ten blog topics that I don't have to rack my brain for. Not to mention that I really do like doing it. Like I said, it's my superpower. The only drawbacks I can see are that 1. you, the reader, might get kinda tired of it, and 2. I'm starting to wonder if I sound preachy… or more preachy than usual, anyway… 

That's absolutely not how I want to come off… so… I hope I am wrong about it. It's just the natural progression of my thoughts when I'm expostulating on the these tunes.

Anyway, next up… (Click the link to hear the song)

***

Homesick 

I want to live with you
In the fifth dimension
In a dream I've never had
Cause I just can't live like this
In a world like this
I just want a kiss goodbye

We are not of this world
And there's a place for us
Stuck inside this fleeting moment
Tucked away where no one owns it
Wrapped up in a haste,
And by mistake got thrown away 

And oh, I am so homesick
But it ain't that bad
Cause I'm homesick for the home I've never had

I know I sometimes get annoyed
I know just where I'm at
This is my song of joy
And now I know there are no secret tricks
No correct politics
Just liars and lunatics

And we are not of this world
And there's a place for us
Stuck inside this fleeting moment
Tucked away where no one owns it
Wrapped up in a haste,
And by mistake got thrown away

And oh, I am so homesick
But it ain't that bad
Cause I'm homesick for the home I've never had

And though I would not take it personally
It's just the child in me
I never really knew how much I had
And woe is me, I am so homesick
But it ain't that bad
Cause I'm homesick for the home I never had

***

Let's go!

It's a lovely lament, a heartfelt cry of longing for heaven… that perfect world where everything will be… perfect. I totally dig where the singer is coming from, and I wrote here about that very thing. I would point out (again) that Paul wanted it too: "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far…" (Philippians 1:23)

The singer knows that his yearning stems from the fact that "we are not of this world," which is just what Jesus said of His disciples:  "They are not of the world, even as I am not of it."(John 17:16).

C.S. Lewis nails it.

I'm not going to dissect the song and examine it too closely… It's not a statement of theology. In fact, the words imply that the singer may not cling to any specific creed: "And now I know there are no secret tricks. No correct politics. Just liars and lunatics." 

I do kind of agree with this ... after all, there ARE no secret tricks... I'M not keeping it a secret, anyway. That is, I'm telling you right now... it's just Jesus. And as for politics, I know devout, well-meaning Christians on each end of the political spectrum and at every point in between. It's just the following line I have trouble with... I mean, ever heard that adage that since Jesus said He was the Son of God, He was either 1. the Son of God, or 2. a liar, or 3. a lunatic? I think we know which side I come down on here.

So, I'm not going to dwell on that part of the song. I'm just going to say that the singer's longing for heaven is a "tell" in itself. C.S. Lewis says in Mere Christianity, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in the world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

My lovely sister, Eve, posted this video, saying, "This is how I envision heaven…" and I couldn't agree more! Finally with the One we love in the home we never had.