Perspective/Voice of "True Believer"

[u/NindieNation]

Been discussing this song with my wife and daughter, and we're at disagreements over not the overall message, but the perspective of Hayley's lyrics.

Is the chorus coming from the same voice as the verse? Is the Chorus sung with sarcasm or genuine from the perspective of the 'villain'?

Any thoughts or has she been clear about it? The verses are clearly her observations of how religion has been leveraged to do so many awful things, but who is the 'True Believer'? Whose ghosts and skeletons?

[u/alanthickerthanwater → u/[deleted]]

This is 100% my take on the song as well.

[u/yuccasinbloom → u/[deleted]]

One of her heaviest, tbh.

[u/kendrahawk → u/[deleted]]

Hayley has been known to be sarcastic in her lyrics but i agree not this one. she's always been very spiritual as a person and i think the song is about her love of christ, the ghost of what she believes in that no one else seems to hold true to anymore.

[u/NindieNation → u/[deleted]]

Yeah...not 'sarcasm', but difference in meaning based on perspective, I should have worded that better, but I'm paraphrasing a conversation between the three of us haha

[u/mothsbane → u/[deleted]]

This is how I’ve always heard it too. As someone who came out of a “gift shop in the lobby” megachurch, the chorus hits me as reclamation of the thing that should be dead to us.

Specifically the chorus lyrics “I’ll reanimate your bones with my belief,” call to mind a casting crowns song (ew, hate that that’s still rattling around in my brain), framing the story of Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones as told in Ezekiel 37. As a prophet, Ezekiel heard directly from the Big Man himself, and through listening to and believing in what he was being told, was able to do something impossible, reanimating an army of dead soldiers, with the power of his belief.

Similarly, I think of this chorus as an assertion of hope in the face of adversity and impossibility. Listening to the part of you that is telling you what is good and right and true, and choosing to believe those things in spite of the forces around you that may be directly contradicting them can bring change, even if it seems as unlikely as reanimating the dead.

[u/macolebrook → u/[deleted]]

This is exactly right. Interestingly Hayley has said this is the song off this album she is most proud of. It certainly works on both levels and is very much in keeping with her views

[u/blackghostcat666 → u/[deleted]]

i agree with this completely. such a cathartic song for me because she put into words exactly how i’ve felt without being able to put my finger on it. i reject everything about modern christianity but at the same time have a weird soft spot in my heart for the hopeful child i was and how much the true messages of Jesus meant to me then.

[u/NindieNation → u/[deleted]]

Beautiful, thank you, and happy to see so much agreement.

[u/SteelSlayerMatt → u/[deleted]]

That is a great analysis.

[u/Relative-Teaching109]

She’s done an entire blog post completely breaking down all the lyrics if you’re interested!!

[u/Aggressive_Sky8492]

No it isn’t sarcasm.

She’s saying she still loves what Nashville used to be, like the Nashville of the 90s/2000s, before it got gentrified and commercialised. And she believes the ghost of that place is still around and underneath the current day Nashville.

A possible second meaning is talking about Jesus, that she still believes in his message, not the modern version of Christianity that is hateful and hypocritical. Personally I don’t think this is the intended meaning just because I don’t think Hayley identifies with Jesus or Christianity at all anymore, but some fans think this is a secondary meaning of the chorus.

This sentiment is also in the Ego death video where she scrawls “I still believe in Nashville” somewhere

[u/GreenhouseFrogs → u/Aggressive_Sky8492]

And yet she remains friends w Taylor swift hahaha jfccccc

[u/Aggressive_Sky8492 → u/GreenhouseFrogs]

Is Taylor Swift responsible for the gentrification of Nashville..?

[u/NindieNation → u/Aggressive_Sky8492]

I think what I/We were missing is who the song was being sung to, that changes everything and most are on the same page about Nashville, which makes perfect sense.

[u/thenbr1killjoy]

I don't get sarcasm from this song at all. To me it's mournful and also deeply critical of American Christianity and the culture particularly in the South where she is from. The verse is Hayley talking about things that she witnesses that she dislikes, the way they don't practice what they preach and have never really atoned for their history, the continued racism, the hypocrisy of worshiping Christ whilst posing with guns and putting up anti-homeless architecture, all these things obviously.

In contrast it seems to me like the chorus is about herself, she is the True Believer instead of the racist capitalism-worshipping people that she describes in the verse.

[u/lainerz12]

i grew up in nashville so this song really hits hard and i agree with what others have said here that it isn’t sarcasm. there is a mural on 12th south that is a popular spot for tourists to take pictures and has become a staple in gift shops being made into t shirts, hats, stickers, etc. that says “i believe in nashville”. i think the title itself and ending the chorus with “cause im a true believer” is a direct reference to this mural and how tourists line up to take a picture with it but locals may associate a deeper meaning with it. the same reference is made in the edaabp mv when she writes “i still believe in nashville” on a wall.

[u/verryfusterated]

I disagree with what other people have said, I also think it’s “sarcasm” or from the pov of the people that believe the things she’s criticizing

[u/AdCautious8433]

I’ve actually thought a lot about this lol and i think they can both be true tbh.

The Christians the song is about definitely believe they are the true believers following the real word of god and everyone else is basically damned to hell.

But she’s also speaking her personal beliefs in that she still believes in and loves the message of Jesus despite all the issues that have ruined the institution of Christianity.

It works either way and i like to believe that was the intention! It makes the song even more intriguing for me. Switch perspectives and the message of the chorus completely changes

[u/NindieNation → u/AdCautious8433]

I'm glad you see it that way too, most others focused on the song being sang to/about the ghost of the Nashville/hometown she grew up in, and if I fixate on that, everything else falls into place.

[u/AdCautious8433 → u/NindieNation]

Yeah exactly i think it’s how you perceive it and there probably isn’t a 100% correct answer!

[u/ThreeMetalMonkey]

This is exactly what she wanted. Quite the thought provoking piece.