In a previous post, I shared this song, and made the comment "Somehow, I think it expresses some feelings I've had. No idea exactly how it specifically applies to me, but the concept of yearning for freedom rings loud."
I think it's more clear to me now.
On the surface, the writer seems to be talking about leaving his home town, basically because something there no longer satisfies his heart. I always look below the surface though. Maybe what I just mentioned is all the writer intended, and nothing more. Or maybe he's a genius and is saying something else.
I spent a great portion of my life living with the idea that it was my job to convince those on the other side of the fence to see things my way. Eventually, I left that holler.
From there, I progressed to where I thought it was my job to convince those on my side of the fence to see things my way. That was not actually much of a progression, and I left that holler too.
Of late, I've been considering what holler was left to leave.
The writer of this song seems to have made that discovery. In the last two stanzas of the song, he seems to have an epiphany. The end of the song takes on the tone of... well, if you've ever been in a church service, singing a worship song, and the song builds to a point where you spontaneously feel the desire to raise your hands in surrender, in praise.... it takes on that tone. It does it clearly, with the introduction of a sort of choir in the background, and a blazing guitar. The writer is clearly saying he has discovered something.
He has reached a place of "being happy, Lord, and free". The chains that used to bind him have been broken. He's sensing "a brand-new start and a clean-washed heart".
So what happened? Well, he doesn't exactly spell it out, but I think it has to do with what holler he's finally left.
It's not his home town, it's not the people on the other side of the fence, it's not the people on our side of the fence who need some tweaking in their thinking.
The holler that needs to be left is the idea that I need to convince people to see things my way. As long as I hold on to that idea, it will stand in the way of my happiness, my freedom. It will chain me.
Ultimately, the writer here alludes to a "a lover who will never let me down". That lover is who we choose it will be. For some of us, that "lover" is intricately tied to our faith. My job isn't to convince anyone to think the way I do... it's to remain true to my faith, as I understand it.
So am I completely there? Completely free of those chains? Of course not, but I do know I'm on the right path.
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