Amos Lee - Violin Meaning

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 !⃝

   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 !⃝

   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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   Mar 2nd 2013 !⃝

   God presents himself only through beauty (in this case a violin and it's music), but does not take an active role in ridding the world of ugliness. How does one deal with that? Where is the justice handed down from on high? I love this lyric because it comports well with my view of God who provides us with a world full of unspeakable beauty which perhaps provides the only real way we can deal with the ugliness.......but sometimes we don't see the real value in that.
4. anonymous

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   Mar 13th 2023 !⃝

   Could it be that the old violin represents the walls of the church, yet the artist is living among lawyers who are butchers, side hustle, overly ambitious folks, predators and pray and he asking where is Gods presence in a sick world.
   He asking God to show up and clean up this mess. He has seen so much wrong he can not stomach it. He’s throwing it up and pleading for mercy for all. As well as his on sanity.
   Or is it just a heart brake over a lady.
   I don’t think so, the lyrics , the voice has touched deep spiritual thoughts for so many trying to answer what he meant.
5. Sanjgriff

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   Jan 8th 2023 !⃝

   I believe Amos is in deep mental and physical pain during the time of the song Violin.
   
   He can feel himself falling apart. The noises is driving crazy. All the people are out for theirselves
   
   He is seeking GOD, asking GOD why is he hiding from him. The violin represents sadness.
   
   Then he realizes that he has to seek GOD, GOD does not go seeking you.
6. anonymous

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   Jun 6th 2022 !⃝

   I feel that this is someone in hurting, whether a divorce or life on the streets but he is looking for a resolution, perhaps God to help him through these difficult times! We all know the old saying, play a little violin while crying or hurting.
7. anonymous

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   Sep 23rd 2021 !⃝

   I think the song is about a tormented soul that is looking for God wherever he might be the violin is just a symbol of what he is looking for
8. anonymous

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   Feb 28th 2021 !⃝

   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.
9. anonymous

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   Apr 5th 2019 !⃝

   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.
10. anonymous

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    Mar 23rd 2018 !⃝

    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.
11. anonymous

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    Nov 19th 2017 !⃝

    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.
12. anonymous

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    Sep 16th 2017 !⃝

    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.
13. anonymous

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    Jan 21st 2017 !⃝

    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!
14. anonymous

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    Jan 21st 2017 !⃝

    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!
15. anonymous

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    Sep 20th 2016 !⃝

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

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    Jun 3rd 2016 !⃝

    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.
17. Markis Karau

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    Mar 20th 2016 !⃝

    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 :)
18. anonymous

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    Feb 15th 2016 !⃝

    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