1 John 4:16^[1]

Albums: The Life of the World to Come, The Life of the World in Flux

Lyrics

In the holding tank I built for myself
It's feeding time
And I start to feel afraid 'cause I'm the last one left in line
The endless string of summer storms that led me to today
Began one afternoon with you long ago and far away

And someone leads the beast in on its chain
But I know you're thinking of me 'cause it's just about to rain
So I won't be afraid of anything ever again

In the cell that holds my body back
The door swings wide
And I feel like someone's lost child as the guards lead me outside
And if the clouds are gathering it's just to point the way
To an afternoon I spent with you when it rained all day

And someone leads the beast in on its chain
But I know you're thinking of me 'cause it's just about to rain
So I won't be afraid of anything ever again

Banter

• This is a love song. (2010-05-16, BreastFest, Chicago)
• This is a song about a desperate feeling that I wrote during a pretty dark time when I first bought a piano, because the only thing that could comfort me was the sound of one. And that was how those piano songs started to get written, was that I was having a very hard time and pianos managed to get to me in a way other things couldn't.(2012-03-24 Merkin Concert Hall, NYC)

Notes

• The thing is, sooner or later everybody gets fed to the lions. Your friends? They will die in the arena. Your family? Fed to the lions. The lions? They too will eventually get eaten by lions, or, if the crowd has grown restless, by bears. Bears! So maybe you try to take some comfort in knowing how things are going to shake out: in knowing that the road runs the same way for everybody, from the Coliseum's entrance straight into the gnashing teeth of the big starving cats, who are the property of the emperor, who was born without the capacity for pity. You theorize that it's good to at least have a sense of how things are going to pan out. If this is you, I want to ask you: are you crazy? Trying to take comfort in knowing that you're not the only one who will be ripped apart by savage beasts? Just checking. Anyhow, as I imagine you there on your martyrly way, you seem quite frightened, and I can't blame you. You feel alone, and you don't want to die. Only then do you remember that someone loves you, and that you love that someone right back. And so you feel like it doesn't matter what happens to you in this world any more. Because whatever happens, it was worth it just to know how love feels, to have felt it even once. I am averse to spelling out the meaning of a song outright, but that really is what this song is about. (The Life of the World to Come film, liner notes)

Live Performances

Solo performances are notated with an asterisk.

• The Life of the World to Come film (timestamped video)
• 2008-10-20 The Showbox, Seattle* (audience video)
• 2008-10-25 Troubadour, LA*
• 2009-03-27 The Society for Ethical Culture, NYC* (recording)
• 2009-10-09 Paradiso, Amsterdam
• 2009-10-13 Point Ephemere, Paris
• 2009-11-10 The Showbox, Seattle (with Owen Pallet)
• 2009-11-14 The Fillmore, San Francisco (with Owen Pallet)
• 2009-12-02 Bell House, Brooklyn (recording, video)
• 2010-05-16, BreastFest, Chicago
• 2012-03-24 Merkin Concert Hall, NYC (recording, with Owen Pallet)
• 2012-04-02 The Barbican, London (recording)
• 2012-10-06 Reynolds Industries Theatre, Durham
• 2022-04-28 The Regent Theater, LA (recording)
• 2022-05-14 The Depot, Salt Lake City*
• 2022-12-06 Douglas Fir Lounge, Portland* (recording)
• 2024-02-29 Teragram Ballroom, LA* (recording)

Footnotes