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Fragile is a song I really hope goes over well, and am at the same time super afraid is going to be the one track on this album I really regret. It's certainly an ambitious piece, clocking in at over seven minutes in length, and features some pretty fun instrumentation, building from low-key acoustic vibes in the beginning to a full band sound by the end.
Thematically, it picks up where the previous song left off, addressing the question of how do we make sense of a world in which so much seems so deeply wrong; and where is God the midst of that? I chose to approach this concept through exploring the experiences of two characters: a man of faith struggling to reconcile his increasing doubts with the expectations of those around him, and a woman whose failing mental health is causing her unbearable distress. While both of these characters are works of fiction, the experiences described in the song have been directly drawn from stories that friends have shared with me, so in a sense they are grounded in real life.
Like Paralysed, this is a pretty sad, desperate song in many places. However, unlike the preceding track, it goes on to offer some sense of closure, or at least hope. Hope that the suffering of these characters, and indeed the suffering that's common to all of us in this broken world, is not meaningless. Hope that there is a purpose to all of this that's good and grand enough to justify the choice to hold on to hope when everything around is pushing us to give up.
Hope that's found in "the only answer that means anything" -
"Where you are, I've been.
Your burdens, I have borne;
Your bruises, I have worn."
Like I said, it's an ambitious piece. I just hope it lives up to that ambition!
lyrics
Sunday morning dawns
With no trace of the love he knew at first
His doubts, they took their toll
But the wounds from friends, they hurt the worst
He's got a wife and child
And they look him to lead
But if they could see inside
Would they see more than empty deeds
It takes courage to fake it
But who is he fooling
Their hearts would break
If ever they knew
That the hope he claims to know
Was buried long ago
Sitting alone in a room
In a house that feels like hell
Her friends don't know her pain
But her mind's a prison cell
The pills don't work so well
And her prayers bring no reply
And it's all that she can do
Just to sit and wonder why
She’s held onto hope for
As long as she can
At the end of her rope
She can’t keep from thinking
In life she has no peace
Maybe in death she’ll find release
As we journey through this life
We struggle and we're torn
The sorrows of the night
Steal the hope of joy in the morn
And it seems as though we try
Just to fail and fail again
Till the words spill like a flood
Out from the desperate writer’s pen
“God, if you're there
What the hell are you doing
We're hurting, we're breaking
Are you even listening”
The only answer that means anything
Is “where you are I've been
Your burdens I have borne
Your bruises I have worn”
Oh, we’re all such fragile jars
And we’re falling apart at the seams
And we break, and we fade
And we’re all missing a piece
We all lead fragile lives
And we all fail every day
But we’re made with a purpose
And nothing can take that away
And I believe, despite all that we see
I believe we were destined to be
So much more than what we know
So far beyond the status quo
So hold on to whatever will keep you afloat
To whatever will keep you from giving up hope
For though you may be far from home
I promise you you’re not alone
We’re all such fragile jars
And we’re falling apart at the seams
And we break, and we fade
And we’re all missing a piece
We all lead fragile lives
And we all fail every day
But we’re made with a purpose
And nothing can take that away
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