Amos Lee: Violin Meaning

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Violin Lyrics

Lately I,
I've been heading for a breakdown
Every time I leave my house
Well it feels just like a shakedown
Between street sweepers and the pushers or the lawyers
Who may as well be butchers
Between the small timing hustlers who all, seem...

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   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Nov 3rd 2014 report

   Such cryptic and introspectively beautiful lyrics. It's funny how he's asking, "God, why you been hanging out in that old violin while I've been waiting for you?" when there's not even a violin heard anywhere in the song. If only he could hear that violin (the voice of God), would he be comforted...but he's reluctant to open the case, or even to allow it to be heard.

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   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Feb 28th 2013 report

   I think maybe he is a musician and he hears God in the music of the violin but wants more needs God to pull him out of the sadness of the world around him.

3. 3TOP RATED

   #3 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Jun 9th 2014 report

   I think we need to look deeper into the meaning of this song as painful as it. If we look through history about the violin it has been known as the devils instrument and I believe that is why Amos chose it for this song. I believe he is at the crossroads choosing between god and the devil. The music that he hears from that violin is so beautiful he confuses it for god in fact it has been the cause of all his sorrow. All the fame and fortune that comes with selling your soul such as the pushers selling you dope and the lawyers suing you for record contracts that you made. The big fish is a symbol of jesus and the ambition is the devil and he is stuck between both.
4. anonymous

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   Feb 28th report

   He’s referring to a Stradivarius... That God is so intertwined in a beautiful instrument that he can’t be found in the complexities of a crumbling world.
5. anonymous

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   Apr 5th 2019 report

   Maybe just expressing how powerful music can be and describing how when we think God isn't listening He's all around us in songs.
6. anonymous

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   Mar 23rd 2018 report

   I believe the answer parallels the message in the poem
   The Masters Hands.
   
   The poem is of the Christian tradition, and suggests the value in each of us is revealed by the touch of the master.
   
   
   I suggest the spirit of the song may be that the power of God, not necessarily a religious conceptualization, is contained in the vessel.
   Our value is integral, awaiting revelation.
7. anonymous

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   Nov 19th 2017 report

   This song touched my heart deeply. It’s a metaphor indeed, but there was a time in my life when I was asking the same, actually screaming out, to The Father, where are You??
   It’s not until I gave my whole heart and gave all the pain to The Father when my healing began.
   GOD will never forsake us. Seek Him with your whole heart... He’s always there.
8. anonymous

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   Sep 16th 2017 report

   I submit that he's not calling out to God, but rather a significant other that should be his emotional shelter from a crazy world. Hanging out in that ol' violin is a metaphor for feeling so sorry for self that you can't be emotionally available for anyone else. I need you but you cant be here for me because of your own problems.
9. anonymous

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   Jan 21st 2017 report

   He's sick and tired of waiting for a woman who plays the violin to come and pull him out of the bs and dulldrums of the business and not so cryptic messages hidden in lyrics. He needs more than a little cheering up. He can't sleep and he needs a friend. Sometimes it makes him feel like he's going to have a serious mental meltdown. The woman, musician claims that she has to practice the violin and can't get over to see him. Please hang out with me, he says, the rest of these buttheads are literally driving me crazy!
10. anonymous

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    Jan 21st 2017 report

    He's sick and tired of waiting for a woman who plays the violin to come and pull him out of the bs and dulldrums of the business and not so cryptic messages hidden in lyrics. He needs some cheering up. Sometimes it makes him feel like he's going to have a breakdown. The woman, musician claims that she has to practice the violin and can't get over to see him. Please hang out with me, he says, the rest of these buttheads are driving me crazy!
11. anonymous

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    Sep 20th 2016 report

    Music = Language....see above comments.
    Amen and thank you God for Amos and all that he has touched through you, God.
12. anonymous

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    Jun 3rd 2016 report

    At a recent show in Wilmington, DE, Amos introduced this song by talking about Philly. He stated that no matter how bad the winters get, and how run down they make you feel, spring always comes. This explanation was very symbolic to me as well, but confirmed exactly what I thought it was about.
13. Markis Karau

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    Mar 20th 2016 report

    I believe everyone wants to find God and good in this world. Too busy to realise that all the answers can be found in music :)
14. anonymous

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    Feb 15th 2016 report

    Only my heart understands the lyrics to this song. While my mouth can't find the words to say. I'm happy to be alive
15. anonymous

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    Feb 15th 2016 report

    Only my heart understands the lyrics to this song. While my mouth can't find the words to say. I happy to be alive
16. anonymous

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    Feb 6th 2016 report

    He believes God is small and insignificant otherwise he would have " hiding out in that ole double bass". Much bigger instrument. See it all makes sense now.
17. anonymous

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    Dec 21st 2015 report

    With the exception of the last comment - You're all nuts.
18. anonymous

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    Nov 5th 2015 report

    he said "it's a song about writing songs" I think our answer- God in the violin- is in the last place we may look. Somewhere small that WE have to go look not wait around for God to come to us.