The Weight

Producers

This is a both a tender love song and a call to rebel against our own weakness, selfishness, and childishness. The title comes from the lyric, “Cause a ring don’t mean… Read More

Aug. 9, 20091 viewer19.1K views

The Weight Lyrics

[Verse 1]
There’s many who’ll tell you they’ll give you their love
But when they say "give" they mean "take"
They hang ‘round just like vultures 'til push comes to shove
And take flight when the earth starts to shake

Someone may say that they’ll always be true
Then slip out the door ‘fore the dawn
But I won’t leave you hanging on

Another may stay 'til they find someone new
Then before you know they’ll be gone
But I won’t leave you hanging on

No, I won’t, won't be that someone

[Chorus]
And come what may, I won’t abandon you or leave you behind
Because love is a loyalty sworn, not a burning for a moment
Come what may, I will be standing right here by your side
I won’t run away, though the storm’s getting worse and there’s no end in sight

[Verse 2]
Some talk of destiny, others of fate
But soon they’ll be saying goodbye
But I won’t leave you high and dry

'Cause a ring don’t mean nothing if you can’t haul the weight
And some of them won’t even try
But I won’t leave you high and dry

I won’t leave you wondering why

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
And storms will surely come
But true love is a choice you must make and you are the one
That I have set my heart to choose
As long as I live, I swear I’ll see this through

[Altered Chorus]
Come what may, I won’t abandon you or leave you behind
Because love is a loyalty sworn, not a burning for a moment
Come what may, I will be standing right here by your side
I won’t run away, though the storm’s getting worse and I see no end

[Altered Chorus 2]
Come what may, I won’t abandon you or leave you behind
Because love is a loyalty sworn, not a burning for a moment
Come what may, I will be standing right here by your side
I won’t run away, though the storm’s getting worse and there’s no end in sight

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About

This is a both a tender love song and a call to rebel against our own weakness, selfishness, and childishness.

The title comes from the lyric, “Cause a ring don’t mean nothing if you can’t haul the weight, and some of them won’t even try…” “Weight” refers to the commitment, the gravity, the seriousness of what it means to love and be loved, and to commit to someone forever with a wedding ring – “because love is a loyalty sworn, not a burning for a moment.” In the liner notes, Dustin Kensrue wrote:

The English language sadly has only one word for love. The ancient Greeks had four. This song is dealing with the love called agape, and specifically how it relates to marriage. Agape is more of an action than a feeling. It’s the commitment to the good of another. Peter Kreeft says, “Liking is a feeling, but love (agape) is more than a strong liking. Only a fool would command someone to feel a certain way. God commands us to love. And God is no fool.

C.S. Lewis wrote [in Mere Christianity] that “Love as distinct from ‘being in love’ is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit…. Being in love first [moves us] to promise fidelity. This quieter love enables [us] to keep the promise. It is on this love the engine of marriage is run. Being in love is the explosion that started it.”

With the sad state of marriages today, I can’t help but feel that this misunderstanding of the kind of love that it takes to maintain a marriage is a large part of why so many fail. When we take our vows, we must realize that we must choose to love our spouse. We must choose to continually seek their good and not our own, and we must choose this daily.

This message is also deeply evident in Kensrue’s other songs, “Promises”, “Ruby”, “Back To Back”, “Of Crows and Crowns”, and “Juggernaut”.