Flood by Jars of Clay is a song that has been on my iPod for nearly five months and the glory of its raw sound has caused me to listen to it with much aesthetic pleasure. The lyrics seem a bit cryptic but those are the songs that are fun to interpret right? The lyrics are as follows:
Rain, rain on my face
It hasn’t stopped raining for days
My world is a flood
Slowly I become one with the mudBut if I can’t swim after forty days
and my mind is crushed by the thrashing waves
Lift me up so high that I cannot fall
Lift me up
Lift me up – when I’m falling
Lift me up – I’m weak and I’m dying
Lift me up – I need you to hold me
Lift me up – Keep me from drowning againDownpour on my soul
Splashing in the ocean, I’m losing control
Dark sky all around
I can’t feel my feet touching the groundBut if I can’t swim after forty days
and my mind is crushed by the thrashing waves
Lift me up so high that I cannot fall
Lift me up
Lift me up – when I’m falling
Lift me up – I’m weak and I’m dying
Lift me up – I need you to hold me
Lift me up – Keep me from drowning againCalm the storms that drench my eyes
Dry the streams still flowing
Cast down all the waves of sin
And guilt that overthrow meBut if I can’t swim after forty days
and my mind is crushed by the thrashing waves
Lift me up so high that I cannot fall
Lift me up
Lift me up – when I’m falling
Lift me up – I’m weak and I’m dying
Lift me up – I need you to hold me
Lift me up – Keep me from drowning againLift me up – when I’m falling
Lift me up – I’m weak and I’m dying
Lift me up – I need you to hold me
Lift me up – Keep me from drowning again
It seems evident to me that the song is crying for sustenance during a time of suffering. Since Jars of Clay is usually so biblically saturated in their song composition, it makes since to look to Scripture for the imagery that is used in this song. The context in which the images appear in the Bible might perhaps shed some light on the message being communicated. Psalm 42:7 uses the language of flood and pounding waves to express spiritual depression and inner turmoil. This seems to be a sensible connection due to the way Scripture often uses water to symbolize suffering and wrath (Genesis 6, Luke 12, and Romans 6). Conclusion? Flood is about suffering and the cry of a child of God for his heavenly Father to reach down and providentially sustain his soul through the turmoil.
