I've got my back against the wall
But I still hear the blue sky call
The chains that hold me back inside
are the prisons of my mind
Free,
come set me free
down on my knees
I still believe you can save me from me
come set me free
come set me free
inside this shell
there's a prison cell
I try to live the light of day
why would I do what I hate
But when try to reach above
I only I hurt the ones I love
there's a hole in the neighborhood
There the shadows fall
There's a hole in my heart but my hope
is not in me at all
I had a dream that my chains were broken
broken, broken, broken open
free
Behind the Song:
"There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires... there is no such thing as part freedom." - Nelson Mandela
"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use." -Soren Kierkegaard
I'm pretty sure that I wrote this one in an elevator. Tim says that the seed of it was written by the time the elevator ride was over. I don't remember that, I just wanted to have a song on the record (and live) that captured a reinterpretation of the blues. From the moment I started playing guitar I was hooked on Led Zeppelin, BB King, and Hendrix. Wes Montgomery came later. I wanted to have a simple throbbing, pulsing song on the record that epitomized the songs I played in Jr. High.
The concept of this song is fairly simple. I am trapped by myself. I am a man who is bounded by his own lusts and vices, yearning to be free of these hindrances. We are enslaved to our passing desires that are often more swayed by our environment than our own volition. Most of what we call our "choices" are simply reactions. Free thought is incredibly rare. Who can know the darkest parts within himself? This unspoken and nameless prison is the bane of the "free" world, the hole in the neighborhood. We are in the chains of debt, the chains of consumption, enslaved by our lusts, our fears, and our past. The truth will set you free but it's only slightly less scary than hell and a whole lot harder to get there. There is no outer freedom until we have chosen to be free inside.
Lyrically I feel like this song is the brother of "Mess of Me." Yearning for a life beyond what I have. Hoping for freedom. Still yearning to get there. "I had a dream that my chains were broken... broken open." I'm still running hard for this goal." - Jon Foreman (Switchfoot)
