incircles
05-15-2006, 04:06 AM
The problem with trying to look at this song as a whole and understand it that way is that it captures how a personal tragedy can send one's feelings into flux. The only way to understand this song is from within, following each emotional transition.
At some points, the lyrics are angry; at other points, they are accepting and gracious. And at the end, Maynard sums things up nicely by calling Judith Marie the "unconditional one": he loves her unconditionally, she loved him unconditionally, and her faith was unconditional regardless of how it both crippled and exalted her. The idea of her being his witness, his eyes, and his evidence suggests that she demonstrated both
- profound strength and grace (the good side of Christianity)
- the blindness of christianity (the bad side of Christianity)
It's a conflicted song, and that gives it its power.
At some points, the lyrics are angry; at other points, they are accepting and gracious. And at the end, Maynard sums things up nicely by calling Judith Marie the "unconditional one": he loves her unconditionally, she loved him unconditionally, and her faith was unconditional regardless of how it both crippled and exalted her. The idea of her being his witness, his eyes, and his evidence suggests that she demonstrated both
- profound strength and grace (the good side of Christianity)
- the blindness of christianity (the bad side of Christianity)
It's a conflicted song, and that gives it its power.