Nick Cave is a brilliant songwriter. Admittedly much of his material is a bit dark for my tastes but the first time I heard Into My Arms it moved my soul. A person's religious beliefs are very personal and I dare say that no two people hold the exact same beliefs. The song is a testament of love and respect of one another's beliefs and how love can bridge those differences.
The song is sung from the perspective of a non-believer addressing his love who is a believer. The song says, I may not believe in God, but if I did I'd ask him to protect you, to watch over you, and to guide you to me. The non-believer after going through a litany of things he doesn't believe in says he does believe in love and that his belief in love should be enough to bridge the differences in belief between he and his love.
Stripped down to just Cave on vocals and piano the song grows even more starkly personal and moving with Cave's deeply emotive vocal delivery and subtle understated piano playing. Both lyrically and musically the song is a touching and at times haunting baring of a soul. The vulnerability goes far beyond moving and is easily one of the most emotionally wrenching songs ever recorded.
The song works on both a deeply personal level and on a grander all-encompassing level. We may have our differences but don't most of us at least believe in love? Isn't that belief something to build on, to get past that which divides us?
"But I believe in love
And I know that you do too
And I believe we can choose our path
And we can walk down, me and you"
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