Lyrics
Pulled off the highway in Missouri
And lo, our hearts were heavy laden[3]
Made for the chapel with some spray paint
For all the things we'd held in secret
Lord, lift up these lifeless bones
Light cascading through the windows
All the rainbow's heavy tones
He has fixed his sign in the sky[4]
He has raised me from the pit and set me high[1]
Left that place in ruin
Drunk on the spirit and high on fumes
Checked into a Red Roof Inn[5]
Stayed up for several hours and then slept like infants
In the burning fuselage of my days
Let my mouth be ever fresh with praise[6]
He has fixed his sign in the sky
He has raised me from the pit and set me high
Each morning new
Each day shot through
With all the sharp, small shards of shrapnel
That seem to burst out of me and you
Head down toward Kansas
We will get there when we get there, don't you worry
Feel bad about the things we do along the way
But not really that bad
We inhaled the frozen air
Lord, send me a mechanic if I'm not beyond repair
He has fixed his sign in the sky
He has raised me from the pit and he will set me high
Banter
- One time me and Peter are going down 35, we were gonna play a show, I was trying to remember up in the dressing room whether it was at the Replay Lounge or the Jackpot Saloon. Those are both in Lawrence, Kansas across the street from each other, you can play there. And uh, and there's a, you know, there's normal people who going down the highway, they'll see a sign, you know, that says, oh, Yankee Stadium, oh lemme go see that, right? Those big famous places. And then there's the stuff that John wants to see when he's on tour, it's like, 'Creationist Museum? I don't know John, that sounds like a creepy...' And I was like, no, come on, man! Creationist Museum! You know, that'll be great! And this one time I was very adamant. I was like: we're going to the Precious Moments Chapel. I don't care how late we are to the show, I have to see the Precious Moments Chapel. I saw the Precious Moments Chapel. A few years later - this year - I thought, you know, wouldn't it be something if a couple of teenagers huffed a bunch of paint and went in there. This is called Psalms 40:2. (2009-12-01 )
- I was really looking forward to coming here on this tour because I knew I'd be playing for a bunch of people who, either voluntarily or otherwise, have spent a lot of time with the Bible. (2010, SLC)
- This is a story about the transcendental romantic joy of desecrating a church with the one you love. (2011-08-05)
- My efforts to make this song the US national anthem have come to naught. Let me just acknowledge this. People in my country don’t want a song about teenagers desecrating a church as their national anthem. But I should like to say to my countrymen that I will be vindicated on the subject eventually. (2012-05-06)
Live Performances
Footnotes
1. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. (KJV)↩
2. The demo for Psalms 40:2 was released on The Life of the World in Flux. ↩
3. Reminiscent of Matthew 11:28, in which Jesus says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (KJV - Credit: Annotated TMG)↩
4. Signs in the sky are featured in several places in the Bible. Consider the following verses: "And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven." (Luke 21:11 KJV) "Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them." (Jeremiah 10:2 KJV) (Credit: Annotated TMG)↩
5. Red Roof Inns are a cheap motel chain in the United States. (Credit: Annotated TMG)↩
6. This seems to reference Psalm 119:171: "My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught me thy statutes." (Credit: Annotated TMG)↩