1 John 4:16

1 John 4:16
	;
Album	The Life of the World to Come
Released	2009
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	3:09
Previous Track	"Romans 10:9"
Next Track	"Matthew 25:21"

1 John 4:16 is the eighth song on the album The Life of the World to Come.

Bible Verse[]

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. ^{NIV Translation}

Lyrics[]

In the holding tank I built for myself it's feeding time
And I start to feel afraid 'cause I'm the last one left in line
The endless string of summer storms that led me to today
Began one afternoon with you long ago and faraway
And someone leads the beast in on its chain
But I know you're thinking of me 'cause it's just about to rain

So I won't be afraid of anything ever again

In the cell that holds my body back the door swings wide
And I feel like someone's lost child as the guards lead me outside
And if the clouds are gathering, it's just to point the way 
To an afternoon I spent with you when it rained all day 
And someone leads the beast in on its chain
But I know you're thinking of me 'cause it's just about to rain

So I won't be afraid of anything ever again

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]

"This is a song about a desperate feeling that I wrote during a pretty dark time when I first bought a piano, because the only thing that could comfort me was the sound of one." -- 2012-03-24 - Merkin Concert Hall - New York, NY
"The thing is, sooner or later everybody gets fed to the lions. Your friends? They will die in the arena. Your family? Fed to the lions. The lions? They too will eventually get eaten by lions, or, if the crowd has grown restless, by bears. Bears! So maybe you try to take some comfort in knowing how things are going to shake out: in knowing that the road runs the same way for everybody, from the Coliseum's entrance straight into the gnashing teeth of the big starving cats, who are the property of the emperor, who was born without the capacity for pity. You theorize that it's good to at least have a sense of how things are going to pan out. If this is you, I want to ask you: are you crazy? Trying to take comfort in knowing that you're not the only one who will be ripped apart by savage beasts? Just checking. Anyhow, as I imagine you there on your martyrly way, you seem quite frightened, and I can't blame you. You feel alone, and you don't want to die. Only then do you remember that someone loves you, and that you love that someone right back. And so you feel like it doesn't matter what happens to you in this world any more. Because whatever happens, it was worth it just to know how love feels, to have felt it even once. I am averse to spelling out the meaning of a song outright, but that really is what this song is about." -- 7/29/2009 - The Life of the World to Come: a film by Rian Johnson, liner notes

Things Referenced in this Song[]

Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]

Videos of this Song[]

The Life of the World to Come

Track list: "1 Samuel 15:23" • "Psalms 40:2" • "Genesis 3:23" • "Philippians 3:20-21" • "Hebrews 11:40" • "Genesis 30:3" • "Romans 10:9 " • "1 John 4:16" • "Matthew 25:21" • "Deuteronomy 2:10" • "Isaiah 45:23" • "Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace"
Bonus tracks: "Enoch 18:14" • "Proverbs 6:27"
The Life of the World in Flux: "Daniel 12:8 (third)" • "Matthew 11:14-19"