Make me a witness
take me out
out of darkness
out of doubt
I won't weigh you down
with good intention
won't make fire out of clay
or other inventions
Will we burn in heaven
like we do down here
will the change come
while we're waiting
everyone is waiting
And when we're done
soul searching
as we carried the weight
and died for the cause
is misery
made beautiful
right before our eyes
will mercy be revealed
or blind us where we stand
Will we burn in heaven
like we do down here
will the change come while we're waiting
everyone is waiting
Sarah McLachlan admits that her songs often deal in generalities — subtle hints at pointed events but with a universality to the emotion. It is what simultaneously connects listeners to her music and yet keeps them at a respectful distance from her private life. It is also why we are forced to probe her subconscious for insight.
McLachlan doesn’t remember most of her dreams, but when she does, it’s usually the violent ones. Like the one where she was held down by pigs who bit her hands and feet while a man in a black cloak raped, sodomized and beat her until she was unrecognizable.
“Isn’t it awful?” says McLachlan. “I remember thinking that the man was whoever you think is bearing down on you to the point that you can’t deal with your own life anymore. I’ve felt a lot of that pressure — like I wasn’t myself anymore, I was just being led.” And then there is the dream she had two nights ago.
“Oh, Lordy,” says McLachlan as she begins. “OK: You could tell the liars from the people who told the truth because they had this car exhaust coming out of their butts.” She laughs. “And I had it coming out of mine. So did everyone. Ah, more industry insight.”
She laughs again and continues: “So then we were in this religious congregation, this Billy Graham kind of thing. It was almost like a high school gymnasium. I was with someone I’d known a long time, but I kept morphing, so I wasn’t really me. It was almost an out-of-body experience, and suddenly I was Courtney Love and all these people were masturbating me. They were kind of doing it to put on a show and horrify this evangelist. And he started screaming.”
And? “I woke up,” says McLachlan. “So I never climaxed.” Interpretations can be mailed care of Sarah McLachlan, Vancouver, British Columbia. Non-Freudians need not apply. From: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/interview-sarah-mclachlan-86779/
