We never found the answer but we knew one thing.
We all have a hunger ....
You make a fool of death with your beauty,
And for a moment
I forget to worry.
Hunger, Florence and the Machine
This song is strangely dance-worthy (oh to be able to dance like Florence!) and jubilant considering that the lyrics are in a sense quite mournful. I’ve already blogged about this song before, so I’m going to be cheeky and quote myself in my reflection today...
“Perhaps this song and music video is suggesting that the joy and connection that we find in art, beauty, and music is the closest that we can get to satisfying our hunger and transcending life’s pain…. The lyrics however seem to tell a different story. Beauty's power "to make a fool of death" is only temporary. Only "for a moment" does she forget to worry. We are left questioning what happens when those moments of carefree, youthful vibrancy start to fade.
With all the religious imagery within the video and the lyrics, it’s hard not to be reminded of Jesus, the one who makes “a fool of death” through his own resurrection. Is this "the answer" that we are so desperately seeking?”
The Christmas narrative tells us that Jesus, a fragile, ordinary baby really is the answer to the hole in our hearts. The story of the nativity is birthed (excuse the pun) out of this question of our own hunger. Perhaps the pained yearning expressed in this song is not so dissimilar from the cry of the Israelites in the Old Testament. As it says in the famous carol:
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear.
During carol services, we often read the prophetic words of Isaiah that tell us of the Saviour to come. We are reminded that Jesus is the answer to all of these prophecies that echo through the Old Testament. Humanity’s hunger is finally satisfied.
Now we can dance in freedom and truly ‘forget to worry’, because the long-awaited Saviour is here with us.
(You can read more of my thoughts about the song and music video in this blog post. )
This is part of my LittlePonderings series: "Unseasonal Songs: An Alternative Advent in Song Lyrics". You can find out more here.
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