'All These Things That Ive Done' by The Killers - Essay Example

In the eyes and realm of God everyone is but a child waiting to be rescued, yet asking to be a part of God's work. The song, 'All These Things That I've Done', is really told in the context of one of the last lines of the song that says, "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier". The singer is telling the listener that he is a part of God, and believes in God, but hasn't yet surrendered to him. The singer longs to reach the interdependent state of oneness with God, but has yet to take the leap of faith.

This may be a simple fear of the unknown, or may be because he simply does not understand how to surrender. Still, the desire is there to be a part of God, and have God rescue him. It is like the lady that is overwhelmed by life and pleads, "Everybody seemed to be counting on me; depending on me. But I wanted to depend on somebody" (Warren). God is a two way street where man is dependent on God, and God needs man's dedication. In the interdependent world people long to be the responsible, yet they also need someone to lean on.

They need to be a soul and a soldier. The singer in the song realizes this shortcoming and is still seeking his identity with God. The singer sets the stage for the song in the opening phrases and points the listener to the religious basis of the material. In addition, he specifies the Christian religion. One of the opening lines, "When there's nowhere else to run, is there room for one more son" is a reference to Jesus as the son of God. This coincides with the Christian belief in Jesus as the Son of God, and illustrates the singer's belief that we are all children of God.

He realizes that there is "room for one more son", but hasn't yet accepted the path to God. In addition, the singer is seeking God out of some fear as the line portrays the desperation of "nowhere left to run". The singer has been given the freedom of choice, the free will, and has postponed his becoming a child of God. Wildavsky states that, "Given human fallibility, and temptation to evil, the most the Almighty can do is show the way" (41). God has shown the singer the way, but the singer is still reluctant to take the steps needed to become a true child of God.

The song further illustrates the singer's insecurity with God, and the ambiguous dedication that vacillates through time with the line "And my affection, well it comes and goes". The singer's soul moves in and out of grace as he searches for his meaning of God, and searches for his individual identity with God. The use of the word "affection" is an important indicator of his love for God and his will to be a part of God, yet is still lukewarm to a total dedication to the cause. The insecurity and unsure nature of his convictions are further shown in the lyric, "You know, you know - no, you don't, you don't".

The singer is a soul that is caught in the limbo between intellectual understanding and action. His tepid love for God comes and goes, as his trust in God as all-knowing is there one moment and vanishes the next.The song's lack of trust in God may stem from the lack of trust in God's total knowledge and experience. The line "You know, you know - no, you don't, you don't', brings into question what it is that God does not know. On the one hand the singer contends, "I need direction to perfection", yet is unable to completely believe in God's perfection.

Here again, the song exemplifies the