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Penitent
Once I stood alone so proud
Held myself above the crowd
Now i am low on the ground.
From here i look around to see
What avenues belong to me
I can't tell what ive found.
Now what would You have me do
I ask you please?
I wait to hear.
The mother, and the matador,
The mystic, all were here before,
Like me, to stare You down.
You appear without a face,
Disappear, but leave your trace,
I feel your unseen frown.
Now what would you have me do
I ask you please?
I wait to hear
Your voice, the word, you say
I wait to see your sign
Would I obey?
I look for you in heathered moor,
The desert, and the ocean floor
How low does one heart go.
Looking for your fingerprints
I find them in coincidence,
And make my faith to grow.
Forgive me all my blindnesses
My weakness and unkindnesses
As yet unbending still.
Struggling so hard to see
My fist against eternity
And will you break my will?
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| Single release : |
2001 |
| Lyrics : |
Suzanne Vega |
| Copyright : |
© 2001 Waifersongs Ltd. & WB Music Corp. |
| Album : |
Songs
In Red And Gray |
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"Songs In Red And Gray" -
tracklist :
*
Available on the Japanese Release only
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Notes:
""Penitent" is about a moment
when you're asking for guidance but at the same time you wonder
if you would rebel against it when you receive it."
[...]
"I'm a spiritual person more than I'm a particularly religious
one. So I was doing all kinds of things like casting Runes.
I don't know if you know what Runes are, but they're like stones,
and you can turn them over -- and you can receive guidance from
them."
[...]
"And not only that, but horoscopes or anything that would
give me a sense guidance, as well as praying. And so some of
it was praying to a not very clearly defined sort of God. I
mean, I was raised a Buddhist, so I and my family don't actually
practice a Christian religion. But in this case, it was sort
of like an imaginary figure that I was talking to and asking
for guidance from."
[...]
""Penitent" raises the question: What is my destiny?
What am I meant to do at this time?"
Interview with Steve Rosenfeld, Playback,
February, March 2002 (http://www.ascap.com/playback/2002/march/radar-vega.html)
"Focus on themes of hope, disappointment, and loss. Is
there a God or not? What would he have me do if he existed?
…It's just really summed up my state of mind for the last
couple of years. It's trying to figure out what was happening
to me, how I helped to cause it, and what I could do about it...."
Interview by Lisa Leigh
Parney in The Christian Science, November 09, 2001 edition (http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/1109/p20s1-almp.htm)
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