There is nothing sweeter than knowing you are loved, valued, missed, and pursued. Each of these actions is captured in Judah and the Lion’s “Only want the best”. Judah captivates an emotionally wounded people and liberates them from captivity. Simply put, this song moves me.
Emotion comes from something. Many instances that something is very difficult to understand. Yet allowing your emotion to speak to you can often lead you back to where that emotion originated from. Once you find the origin of an emotion then you unlock a route to uncovering freedom. In this song, the clear emotion communicated is pain. Pain causes a wound but when you allow the pain to speak there is a healing that is birthed. I want to focus on three sections of lyrics that lead to the healing found in this song.
“There alone inside my room, as my heart broke into two, on my knees, I hope you find the truth.”
What a visual image. The thing that sticks out is the hope within separation from connection. If you’ve ever loved someone you can relate to the suffering of leaving. Often it’s the place of pain that leads to the deepest hurt. Feeling abandoned from someone you love might be the hardest hill to climb. Yet there is still truth. In this case, the truth is that there is a promise at the end of hardship. A love that is still present through the trials of adversity.
“I know you’ve got your point of view. Now you know I’ve got mine too.”
This is a knowledge that leads to appreciation. Probably the most challenging part of understanding pain is to see it from the point of view of the person who is the reason for that pain. And it isn’t even necessarily that person’s fault, it’s just the effect of a deep resounding love. It’s in the new perception that the heart is expressed.
“And I hope that all your stars align – And that I only want the best for you.”
The hope is explained with a background into the response from the cause. The stars are people, and good people know that in some cases you have to trust someone to find the people who will lead back to presence. The broken heart was undesired suffering. Yet it’s in the suffering that the process to union is shown. The most beautiful interpretation of this section is that it reveals that the “best” that is wanted could very likely be the one writing. It’s essentially saying: I want the best for you but I also know that in this situation I just so happen to be that best. It’s a call to a reuniting. A not giving up on the other which happens to be the promise of the truth that is hoped for. To the one writing I would say: you may want the best for me, but my best is you.
Written October 10th, 2023
Jake Wentworth 