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Swing Wide The Glimmering Gates

From the comment on Andy’s blog [here] about how great it would be to have a song with the line, “Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates,” it struck a major chord with Andy. He picked a melody for the chorus and had it stuck in his head and sang it around the house for two days, driving his wife nuts (You’ll hear Andy admit it tomorrow on the interview Chris had with him ). It stuck with him. “Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates.” It’s an action packed statement. I’ll admit, when I first read the comment I thought it was nothing too special. It did make me stop and think, putting a beautiful picture of Heaven in my mind, seeing the gates swing open wide inviting me to eternity of Joy in Christ. But I moved right on to the next comment to see what others had to say.

And when I read the tracklist for the first time and noticed that familiar line, “Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates,” I smiled. And really, for me (and, what seems to be, most others), its my favorite song on the record. It grabs me. It speaks my language. I can relate to the words and can keep listening to the tune. It hits the heart of my struggle on earth to keep and contain love. The times we feel so empty and alone are the times that will make Heaven all the more unbelievably incredible.

I think we get caught up in the snare of believing in Jesus because we’ve been told to over and over again. And we hear all the time about the faith of children. It’s so simple. So unencumbered. And we ache to believe like that again, so as to not make our faith another checklist in our busy, American life-style.

[And I feel it, I taste it
This longing to be free
Oh, the joy of believing like a child
So you, you there listening
Will you send up a prayer
For me
To help me find the light]

[Swing wide the glimmering gates]

The song speaks of hope in what is to come and how we ache for it. One day our eyes will be made wide open and we will see the glory of God. We will see what we have been aching for and what our adult minds can tend to wrap rules around. We will believe like children again.

[One day I believe
I will open up my eyes
To see the good work that was begun
And I'll be the only thing I've ever wanted to be
And I'll know that I belong]

How awesome. I am constantly encouraged by this song and I know that it will have an impact on the way I hear music for years to come. And one of the best parts about this song is that Andy had his readers record the ending background vocals, lovingly referred to as Webground Vocals®. He ties the bow on his record written with help by his readers, with the voices of his readers. Being included in something like this is very special to me, and I know it grabs the hearts of his other fans as well. Thanks for including us, Andy. We look forward to seeing what you’ve got coming up in the future .

Download audio file (06SwingWidetheGlimmeringGates.mp3)

I caught myself
Looking in the mirror
Wishing I was someone else
Cause I was born
With a bleeding heart
And veins of loneliness

And I know it, I’ve seen it,
I’ve held it in my arms
But love can’t seem to break me down

And I’ve pleaded, I’ve begged
And I’ve bloodied my eyes
Just to feel it
To believe it will stick around

Swing wide the glimmering gates

I told myself
The habits and secrets
Were just to get me through
To get me through the nights
But I got lost
In a world of angles
In a city of greys and lies

And I feel it, I taste it
This longing to be free
Oh, the joy of believing like a child

So you, you there listening
Will you send up a prayer
For me
To help me find the light

Swing wide the glimmering gates
Leave your pride and pain
Swing wide the glimmering gates
And be innocent again

One day I believe
I will open up my eyes
To see the good work that was begun
And I’ll be the only thing I’ve ever wanted to be
And I’ll know that I belong

Swing wide the glimmering gates
Leave your pride and pain
Swing wide the glimmering gates
And be innocent again

–Song url is from a google account set up for the Square Peg Alliance Virb site–

I got robbed today
He put a gun up to my chest
And would not go away
Til’ he had everything
But he did not leave with everything
Cause I’ve got things you cannot steal

This story of being robbed while on the job came from one of Andy’s blog readers. And here we come to the heart of this song: that there are things that can be had that cannot be taken away.

Her brother’s coming home
It’s been too long
He fell too far
But mended bones
Do not fix everything
But we can heal, I must believe
That we have things this world can never steal

Here we get a picture of a man coming home, I’m guessing from war. Broken bones can heal, but there are wounds that are deeper. Here he holds out the hope that there is healing even from these deeper wounds, a peace that can be found that will counteract the pain of this world.

Maybe getting what you want is a blessing
Cause you may find that it can sting and it can burn
What if it’s just a hint of all that you are missing?
Getting what you want is both the blessing and the curse

The vocal on this chorus reminds me of some of the vocal stylings of another one of the Square Pegs, Andy Gullahorn. Beautiful.

Folks can’t believe my job
But dying never stops
So I keep building boxes to put it in
But the life already said goodbye to grief and sin
And it rose up like a ghost
The love, the joy
The chosen soul still holds the things
That death can never steal

This verse came from a story of a person who builds coffins for a living. What a job, to be constantly reminded of death. But again comes the hope, that the soul holds things that even death cannot steal. The song ends almost abruptly, but I think that serves only to draw more attention to the point. There is hope.

Anna and I grew up in a small town
She was the prettiest girl for miles around
Well, I fell in love and she followed me down
I knew he’d have my head when her daddy found out

We headed north on 75
Just us and a New York state of mind
The radio said the stars were going to fall tonight
We parked on a hill, laid down on the hood
Things were heating up like we knew they should
Until one of those stars kept falling, nearly took our lives

Andy is admittedly a huge Bruce Springsteen fan, and has said that he was consciously looking for that tone in the lyrics of this song. It feels to me like a feel-good Americana summer rock’n'roll song. Andy also gives us something almost Dylan-esque in the vocals here for a couple of lines. I don’t think I’ve ever heard an Andy vocal quite like this before.

And then everything changes.

The crash was the loudest thing I’d ever heard
A hundred miles away it made a cloud of dirt
There was a glowing green and our hair on end
I walked to the rubble and looked over the edge

You and me, we’re finally getting out of this town
Anna, you and me, we’re finally getting out of this town

The song has to have a twist, and here it is. Hey, there’s more than one way to get out of town. Is it cheesy? You bet. But it’s a lot of fun. Andy shows us a playful side here that we haven’t seen since who knows when. I’m thinking I’d like to see him do this one live. What fun.

[This may not be your last song
And I hope it finds you well
I hope it lets me find where you have gone
The good became so wrong
I hope it finds its way back home]

“Sometimes we want something so bad we’ll settle for just a small passing reflection of its value. Even if a shadow was found it could not be held. But it’d be better than absolutely nothing.”

You Leave No Shadow is a sad song. I have sat here, listening to it multiple times and have found that it is hard to discern exactly what Andy is trying to say. But there are definite layers of meaning in these lyrics. And I think it speaks to losing someone very loved. Not by death or by other tragedy, but by the loved one willingly choosing to walk away because of something completely unexpected [...Snuck up like a tornado, knocked us over and we watched you go, praying you'd finally slow down, before you got to someone else...]. I have never experienced anything like this before. But I can imagine how hard it would be to see someone you love so much walk away and not know where they ran off to. Hoping they find their way back home. The song might have been inspired by this comment on Andy’s blog.

The song has a very soothing tune. It is a hopeful sounding melody with deep, rich tones. It too is constantly flowing, always moving. In an 8/8 time (I believe), and sliding lyrics, its good music to listen to as you are winding down, though, still sad and thought provoking.

I am impressed with the lyrical structure and still unaware of what the complete and exact story is. Which is good, I think. It leaves the listener playing it again and again, and getting something new out of it with each listen. That is something I appreciate.

Well done, Andy. Well done.

When I was young, I loved to play baseball. This sport was so much fun to me. Being out in the grass with my buddies, trying to keep my glasses on my nose when the ball was hit towards me. The smell of the air. The feeling of a big hit. It all was so fun to me. I have inherited a bad memory from my father, but those are moments I don’t think I’ll forget.

And when I heard the The Ball Game an instant chord was struck with me. Its a song about taking advantage of the time that we have. Its such a basic principle, but when put to a well written tune, it can become profound to us once again. It did for me. The melody rings of progression. With an acoustic base line, kickin’ and groovin’ it like its 1964 (What?), it causes an unconscious foot tap and/or head bob. it It moves as it moves as it moves. The first four measures leave you wanting to hear the next four. The verses build to the chorus in a very perfect and stylized way. Its one of the more original melodies I’ve heard. I get so used to the same-old tune. When listening to a song, none of us like thinking, “This song sounds just like that other song.” We crave originality. And I think Andy nails originality on its head with this one.

As a fairly young twenty-something, I feel like this song was written for me. It strikes me as a song for young people. As we grow out of our teens and begin to become independent, we make our own choices. And if we make the wrong choice, it could effect the rest of our lives. And we only have one life to live. As the song touches on giving up on what we loved, its an important reminder to not just let life pass by and give up or squander what we’ve been given.

{Mark and I started a band back in high school
Cause we thought it might make us cool…
…We got a record deal and you know how that went
The records didn’t sell and the money got spent
We were five guys now, grown up, and couldn’t pay the rent}

As the days go by, we are given certain opportunities. And before you know it, we have a family and bills to pay. {Show me what to hold and what is in the way.} We need to know how to prioritize our opportunities, blessings, and gifts. We need to know how to make best of the time we’re given. And The Ball Game is a reminder to its listener (or, at least, to me) to take advantage of the opportunities and to be good stewards of them. {These are the passing days}. We don’t want to look back on our days when we are older and say, “I’ve wasted it.” What a tragedy that would be.

It is so refreshing to hear a song that speaks such a simple and repeated principle in such a profound and new way. It hit me pretty hard, and I’m sure, if you listen to the lyrics, you’ll think the same. And again, the tune is progressive, original, fun, and just plain killer

Every night I have the very same dream
You and I are staring at the TV
Then the power dies, the roof goes flying
And we’re running for our lives
Outside a river’s in the streets
Boats and copters where the cars used to be
The world ends and you take my hand
And set me free

Andy starts out with a surreal picture of a dream, and who hasn’t had a dream like this before? Now, maybe some of these pictures aren’t so surreal after Hurricane Katrina a couple years ago. In the midst of all the chaos, what’s important?

Cause you
You’re the only thing
I really need

And if you say that you want me, too
I’ll believe you to follow through
All I want is to be wanted by you

Now we’re to the heart of this beautiful little love song – all I want is to be wanted by you. I could try to paint some more words here and elaborate, but hey, Andy’s the writer here – I’m only the geek who writes reviews. Suffice it to say that this song has gotten one of the biggest initial responses on his blog; I think a lot of people resonate with it.

Or I’m flying in the sky
I try to fall but I just rise
Just like always I’m afraid
This is goodbye

And I wake in a cold sweat
I look at you
You’re sleeping yet
And in the rhythm of your breath
I can’t forget

Again with the dreams, but this time they are filled with loss and fear – is this goodbye? But then the wakefulness, and the reminder that it was just a dream.

Musically, this song sets the tone for the album. We’re introduced to a wonderful melody, some gentle acoustic guitar, and the layered harmonies that show up throughout the album. Toward the end he dispenses with the guitar altogether and gives us an a capella taste of a couple of lines that are strongly reminiscent of the Beach Boys.

In my mind, Wanted isn’t necessarily the strongest song on the EP, but it is a solid start and a song that will be loved by Andy fans for many years to come.

So be sure to check back here on Monday for our review of Wanted.