song: deathbed

Relient K are a band that I like and not like at the same time. Some of their songs are just dumb, but there are quite a few that I think are fantastic. On their recent album, Fivescore and Seven Years Ago, the very last track is a song called Deathbed.



This is one of the fantastic songs.

The song is about a man on his deathbed. He looks back at his life and remembers all the milestones in his life - when his parents divorced, when his dad abandoned him, how he became addicted to alcohol and nicotine, getting married to his pregnant wife on his 21st (after being encouraged by his gun-toting-father-in-law-to-be hehe), getting divorced - and finally how on his deathbed, he thinks about his sinful life and wonders whether God will forgive him of his sins. He finally comes to realise that there is a blessed hope in Christ. My favourite part of the song is:

I was so scared of Jesus
But He sought me out
Like the cancer in my lungs
That's killing me now
And I've given up hope
On the days I have left
But I cling to the hope
Of my life in the next

After this, he realises he is a sinner - a wolf guilty of the blood of the Lamb - and he seeks forgiveness. The song then ends with 'Jesus' (sung really nicely by Jon Foreman of Switchfoot) reaching out to the man and asking him to follow Him.

Other bits in the song I like - all the different instruments in (like the toy piano tinkling at the end) and how they perfectly reflect the mood of the lyrics, the witty lyrics ('If life was a highway, I was drunk at the wheel'), and Jon Foreman's voice at the end (SUCH a good voice).

Love them or hate them, Relient K came up with a goody with this song. It's kinda like a hopeful version of Bohemian Rhapsody. The lyrics in full are below.

'Deathbed' by Relient K
I can smell the death on the sheets
Covering me
I can't believe this is the end

But this is my deathbed
I lie here alone
If I close my eyes tonight
I know I'll be home

The year was nineteen forty one
I was eight years old and
Far far too young
To know that the stories
Of battles and glory
Was a tale a kind mother
Made up for her son
You see
Dad was a traveling preacher
Teaching the words of the Teacher
My mother left mourning
Went off to the war
And died there with honor
Somewhere on a beach there
But he left once to never return
Which taught me that I should unlearn
Whatever I thought a father should be
I abandoned that thought
Like he abandoned me

By forty seven I was fourteen
I'd acquired a taste for liquor and nicotine
I smoked until I threw up
Yet I still lit 'em up for thirty more years
Like a machine

So right there you have it
That one filthy habit
Is what got me where I am today

I can smell the death on the sheets
Covering me
I can't believe this is the end
I can hear those sad memories
Still haunting me
So many things
I'd do again

But this is my deathbed
I lie here alone
If I close my eyes tonight
I know I'll be home

I got married on my twenty first
Eight months before my wife would give birth
It's easier to be sure you love someone
When her father inquires with the barrel of a gun
The union was far from harmonious
No two people could have been more alone than us
The years would go by and she'd love someone else
And I realized I hadn't been loved yet myself

And there's your typical spiel
Yeah if life was a highway
I was drunk at the wheel
I was seeing the loose ends
All fall apart
Yeah I swear I was destined to fail
And fail from the start

I bowled about six times a week

The bottle of Beam kept the memories from me
The marriage had taken a seven-ten split
Along with my pride the ex-wife took the kids

I can smell the death on the sheets
Covering me
I can't believe this is the end
I can hear those sad memories
Still haunting me
So many things
I'd do again

But this is my deathbed
I lie here alone
If I close my eyes tonight
I know I'll be home

I was so scared of Jesus
But He sought me out
Like the cancer in my lungs
That's killing me now
And I've given up hope
On the days I have left
But I cling to the hope
Of my life in the next
Then Jesus showed up
Said "Before we go"
"I thought that we might reminisce"
"See one night in your life"
"When you turned out the light"
"You asked for and prayed for my forgiveness"

You cried wolf
The tears they soaked your fur
The blood dripped from your fangs
You said, "What have I done?"
You loved that lamb
With every sinful bone
And there you wept alone
Your heart was so contrite

You said, "Jesus, please forgive me of my crimes
Sanctify this withered heart of mine
Stay with me until my life is through
And on that day please take me home with you"

I can smell the death on the sheets
Covering me
I can't believe this is the end
I can hear You whisper to me,
"It's time to leave
You'll never be lonely again"

But this was my deathbed
I died there alone
When I closed my eyes tonight
You carried me home

[Jon Foreman of Switchfoot sings, as the voice of Jesus:]
I am the Way
Follow Me
And take My hand
And I am the Truth
Embrace Me and you'll understand
And I am the Light
And for Me you'll live again
For I am Love
I am Love
I, I am Love