At some point during every day, a senior down the hall from me begins playing songs on his guitar and singing along. He plays a lot of recognizable acoustic music, including one of my favorites, Taylor Swift. While many of my friends in the hall think he’s annoying and bad, I think he’s spectacular. The only gripe I have is when he began playing at 9:18 on Tuesday, the only day I can sleep in -_- Recently, he’s been singing this one song over and over again, perfecting the chorus. I had never heard the song before, and I loved it. For the first time in over two weeks, I decided to finally search the song once he started singing it. I caught most of the words, typed them into Google, and came across “Keep Your Eyes Open” by Needtobreathe, a christian band I used to listen to in high school. After finally figuring out what song he’s been obsessed with, I figured I’d write my blog on it.

Needtobreathe

The first verse is an introduction to the song that addresses someone directly. For the purpose of explaining the song, we’ll pretend the person addressed is a man named John:

If you could soldier on
Headstrong into the storm
I’ll be here waiting on the other side
Don’t look back
The road is long
The first days of the war are gone
Take back your former throne and turn the tide

The first three lines “If you could soldier on / Headstrong into the storm / I’ll be here waiting on the other side” is the speaker saying to John that if he has the courage to push on, he will be met by the speaker with open arms. The lines “The first days of the war are gone / Take back your former throne and turn the tide” reveal a lost glory that John had. The “lost glory” is a fall into depression and an unsuccessful attempt at suicide. The meaning behind “the first days of the war are gone” is that the attempt was unsuccessful, and now John can find the help he needs to return to a normal life. The chorus that follows further supports the circumstance of suicide:

Cause if you never leave home, never let go
You’ll never make it to the great unknown till you
Keep your eyes open, my love
So tell me you’re strong, tell me you see
I need to hear it, can you promise me to
Keep your eyes open, my love

As the speaker says, “if you never leave home, never let go” of the depression, “you’ll never make it to the great unknown”. Because Needtobreathe is a christian band, they believe that suicide sends someone to hell. If John commits suicide, they cannot make it “to the great unknown”, which is heaven. The chorus then trails off with the speaker giving John confidence that all he needs to do is “keep your eyes open.” The following verse reveals more about the attempt at suicide:

Just past the circumstance
The first light, a second chance
No child could ever dance the way you do, oh
Tear down the prison walls
Don’t start the curtain call
Your chains will never fall until you do

The first two lines indicate that because the suicide attempt was unsuccessful, it’s the “first light, a second chance.” God gave John a second chance and he needs to take it.  The line “tear down the prison walls” is a call for John to release himself from the prison he has trapped himself in. The following line “don’t start the curtain call” is a plea for John to not end his life. The final line “your chains will never fall until you do” means that the problems John is facing will not go away until he falls down on his knees before God and asks for help. Once he can surrender to God, he will take the first step towards healing.

The song continues and ends in the same way as the first few verses, giving John hope and confidence that everything will be alright. Although I love Needtobreathe and am somewhat biased, this is still a really good song and is worth a listen. Although Needtobreathe is a christian band, you wouldn’t know from listening to them. When I first started listening to them, I had no idea they were one. I’m not a particularly religious person, but I respect their music and their beliefs.

Give the song a listen below: