That mystery of knowing God and of being known is reflected in the “ I and Thou” relationship between human beings, and between themselves and God. Perhaps God sings like this over his people, such as in the bitter-sweet words of Hosea? How might God celebrate our curves and edges, I wonder? And does God in fact see perfection, albeit covered by our many imperfections? Suddenly we are safe despite our vulnerabilities. To accompany Legend at his piano is to be drawn into the wonder of a perfect loving relationship, and so his “perfect imperfections” arouse in us ideas we might not previously have imagined: that perfection may be buried under the imperfect, or that beauty may transcend our tears. To the Father through the features of men’s faces. Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his Gerard Manley-Hopkins speaks more evenly and eloquently of such materiality saying: For Christ plays in ten thousand places Legend’s materiality points beyond, rather than to itself, by which means he may unintentionally point us to God’s love after the manner of early Genesis, the Song of Songs, and the Prophet Hosea. All of Me is especially provocative with its palpable intimacy, for while Legend risks worshipping the human form, he may nevertheless provide metaphors for worship, the language around which, is often difficult for us. This total giving is in many ways, ideal, but is this not the sort of giving required in worship? Songs are one aspect among many, of worship, however, if modern worship songs are to nudge us towards loving relationship with God (considered normal in Christian life) then they must at some point address divine intimacy. I give you all, all of me and you give me all, all of you. Any awkwardness on our part over Legend’s treatment of love therefore, would seem to place us in good company. Christian debate regarding the Song of Songs over the centuries has been whether its love is primarily erotic, or allegorical. It opens us to the other paradoxes in the song: drawing in and kicking out, curves and edges, losing and winning, perfect imperfections, all being indicative of a mind untethered from its heart.Īny actual correlation between the Bible’s Song of Songs and All of Me, aside their high celebration of human love would be tenuous at best. Such poetic non-sense also describes the euphoria of a person in love, as much as it speaks of the subject being somehow out of their depth. Through this disorientation, I believe John Legend critiques Western culture’s elevation of the mind over heart, as he gives voice to more illogical aspects of love the metaphor of breathing under water, for example, illustrates a momentary suspension of reason. The alternative is to plunge into passion’s wild complexities, all the while aware that passion can lend itself to anger as much as it does to love. Got my head spinning, no kidding, I can’t pin you downĪs Westerners, living overly in our heads, we might try to define love, and fix, or else relinquish our relationships. Going deeper, the song may encourage Christian reflection over the complex interplay of heart and mind, the worship of God, and the mysteries of I and Thou. Legend seems here to encapsulate a range of meanings: finding “rhythm and blues” in life’s vicissitudes, in the function of lament, and (in the particular context of male-female relationships) the “monthly blues.” My worst distraction, my rhythm and bluesĪ rather good pun on “rhythm and blues” reminds me that peaks and troughs really are a part of life. The world is beating you down, I’m around through every move Even when you’re crying you’re beautiful too This is surely acknowledgement that our real experiences of love sometimes include failure, sadness, and pain. I would say much of the song’s success is based on his artful combination of words, melody, and meaning.įurther reasons for popularity may be found, however, in this song's underlying realism-that curves come with certain edges and imperfections. Idealistic, and verging on the sentimental, Legend’s pretty melody turns the poetry into an anthem of love. They repeat “Cause all of me loves all of you” (with variants) several times, describing devotion in plain terms.
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The word “all,” repeated twenty-eight times in these lyrics, is key to the songwriters’ focus on totality total commitment and total mutuality. This poetry, with its curvy human imagery, depicts a man’s attraction to a woman into which Legend includes some of his own wedding video, indicating the direction of his thought. The world, it would appear, has an insatiable appetite for songs about romantic love. It has been ranked fifty-third among YouTube’s most watched clips.