Wide Swept Explanation
Wide Swept arms of Hope is the second title I came up with for my concept album, but the first song I actually wrote for it.
The image of wide swept arms made me think of surrender. Not in a "I've fought as long and as hard as I could, and now I, grudgingly, surrender", but as a "Here am I" sort of thing.
The word Hope is something that I think most people think they understand, but I'm not sure they do. I'm not sure I do fully.
If your arms are open wide, you can not be holding on to anything and you can not be protecting anything. You're heart is exposed. You're vulnerable. You are completely open. The burdens you held close are dropped, in the knowledge that they won't fall. You are waiting for something. You are free.
The chord progession for this song was one I had for several years, but didn't want to use, since it was similar to a few other songs I've done. (Bm, Em, and G seem to appear a lot in my early work). I finally got over it when I decided that I might just have a style and that style might include the use of B minor and if listeners didn't like that, they could tell me so or stop listening, but if I didn't use it the way it was in my head, it would never get finished. So I finished it and was pretty happy with the results, B minor and all. It's hard to describe how torturous and circuitous a route I took to getting to the "style" point.
Wide Swept Arms
Open arms so wide
Surrender all your pride
This hope is in his eyes
And hunger for the skies
And it doesn’t really matter
This faithless in-between
Hope for life is stronger
than the shadows that were in
Give it all away
Clutch the break of day
He’s here among us now
So kill your golden cow
we walk this broken town
in the mire that sucks us down
Arms up to the sky
Yearning to fly
This rut is an illusion
a ghost from our own fear
True life beckons homeward
our sky is drawing near
Open arms so wide
Surrender all your pride
Hope is in your eyes
Float to heavens Skies
Float away
Wide Swept Arms - MP3 128k
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