In Your Arms – Kina Grannis

Well, I haven’t quite stuck to my original plan of doing this once a month, but we are still pretty close to November.

This time we are going to look at a less strongly opinionated song. Although I find it useful to look at songs with very strong messages, the main goal of this blog is not to find songs to beat up. My real goal is to look at songs that I like, or the general populace likes, and see if we, as Christians, should like them.

Today’s song is In Your Arms by Kina Grannis. I don’t love this song, but I do find the music video very cool!

Lyrics:

Hush now, let’s go quiet to the park where it first started
Cold night, us lying in the dark
I felt my heart was trying to find a place for you to stay
A place where I’d feel safe

Anything we have known
Anything we’ve forgotten
In the rain, in the dark we’ll lay
In your arms, in your arms I’ll stay

Take my hand, let’s go into the trees
Behind the branches, falling on our knees
I remember feeling like this part of us would never change

Anything we have known
Anything we’ve forgotten
In the rain, in the dark we’ll lay
In your arms, in your arms I’ll stay

Follow me
We both know the way
It’s always been the same

Anything we have known
Anything we’ve forgotten
In the rain, in the dark we’ll lay
In your arms, in your arms I’ll stay

On to the review!

This song is essentially a love song. And generic love songs are difficult, because usually there is nothing inherently right or wrong with them. The right or wrongness tends to change with context (Life Rule #4 – Context is always important). For example, if we assume that this is a song being sung by some one who is engaged or married, then it is very sweet. On the other hand, if it is being sung by a rebellious teenage girl to her dark, creepy, boyfriend (think Twilight), then the whole song gives you the chills. Let’s give it the benefit of the doubt, and assume it’s closer to the former scenario.

The verses both have a sense of secrecy and intimacy to them. Having privacy is a relationship is not something that I believe to be intrinsically wrong – in fact, I believe that couples probably should not behave in public the same way they do it private… But back to the main point. So privacy is not wrong, but it is a slippery-slope for unwed people. As single, Christian men and women, we should avoid being in intimate situations, in the dark, with members of the opposite sex. Obviously, this changes slightly once people are married, and while they have all rights to be alone with their spouse, they must still avoid being in said situations with people other than their spouse. Putting yourself in this type of situation drastically increases the likelihood, and temptation of sin. Bottom line? Don’t put yourself in compromising circumstances, because as Genesis 4:7 reminds us “sin is crouching at your door.”

Let’s take a look at the chorus. As with the verses, the context of the chorus is very important in determining the message of this song. The chorus still has this sense of being alone, in the dark, with the other gender. And as we have seen, this is generally not a sound idea. But what else might we see in the chorus?

One thing I really like about it is that it promotes a sense of commitment – something that is losing all value in today’s society. People are encouraged to start and stop relationships on a whim. Today, as soon as the other person starts to bug you, you have the right to drop him or her like a hot rock, and walk away.

I did a quick search on Google for divorce statistics for the U.S. (in 2010), here is what I found. The percentages of marriages that end in divorce are: 41% of First marriages, 60% of second, and 73% of third marriages end in divorce.

These statistics give us an interesting, and somewhat startling look into how many people think. We see that people become more willing to break a commitment if they have already done it once. Furthermore, 41% for a first time is still a lot! That means that for every 5 weddings you go to, 2 of those marriages may not last. This is shocking, but the shock might be lessened if we remember that kids are encouraged to date people (and break up with them) until they find the right person. Maybe some preliminary observation should be done before starting down the dating path? Think about it.

Now, you might say that I’m blowing this way out of proportion, and that I can’t possibly be saying that listening to certain music could bring about these results. And that’s true, I’m not saying that if you listen to this song that we will change divorce rates – there are far too many other factors that contribute to this. But I do appreciate the sentiment in this song, that no matter what has, is, or will happen, that people should try to stick it out, solve the problem, and stay together.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule (Life rule #1), and thus, there are situations where relationships need to be broken off – abuse, adultery, etc… Additionally, I would say that breaking off a dating relationship is much less serious that divorcing your husband or wife. Better to end it before marriage then marry the wrong person for life. But I digress.

In summary, apart from some minor encouragement to have potentially compromising situations, the song has a good message over all. The message that couples should work for, and with each other, is a very good one. I believe that it’s extremely important in today’s society to emphasis commitment in hard times. We must remember, that in all things we are to strive to be like Christ. Christ never gives up on us, so we must hold to our vows with each other.

Peace,

Teegan