This week, we begin a new series in our Songs & Such posts. We are going to look at a few songs from the band Anberlin.  Anberlin is a rock band signed to Tooth & Nail records. While the question of whether or not they are a Christian band or not is still up in the air, there are elements of faith sprinkled in the lyrics.

This week’s song is entitled “Foreign Language” and is from their first album Blueprints for the Black Market.

The thing that first hooked me on this song was the opening lyric, “Boys speak in rhythm and girls in code.” Just something about that as an opening line seemed interesting to me and made me want to hear the rest of the song. Plus that lyric, mixed with the music behind it is a great way to open a song.

For me, this song is about the complexities of communication in a relationship. Specifically when it comes to the coupling kind (male/female). There is usually a lot of miscommunication involved in these kinds of relationships and stereotypically they begin from the female side, hence the “… and girls in code” line of the opening lyric. This song could also reference a specific relationship, but since the goal of a good songwriter is to “generalize” so as to make the song appeal to others in similar situations, it works well lyrically in that respect.

The other side is the music. These guys, Anberlin, seem to have a great understanding of melody both in a musical and lyrical sense. This is what makes a song worthy to be sung along with.  I like the fact that someone is putting emphasis on the music side as well as the lyrics.  When both work in harmony with each other, the end result is usually something worth repeat listens.

Lyrics after the jump…

“Foreign Language”
by Anberlin
From the Album “Blueprints for the Black Market”

Boys speak in rhythm and girls in code
doo doo doo doo
doo doo doo doo
Tell it to me straight, give it to me now
Face forward, face forward

Boys speak in rhythm and girls in code
doo doo doo doo
doo doo doo doo
Tell it to me straight, give it to me now
Face forward, face forward

Speaking foreign language, nothing I can translate
You’re speaking foreign language, nothing I can dictate
you’re speaking foreign lanananananguage

Boys speak in rhythm and girls just lie
doo doo doo doo
doo doo doo doo
Tell me how you feel, come out of the dark
Then we can head back home and I’ll know where to start

Speaking foreign language, nothing I can translate
You’re speaking foreign language, nothing I can dictate
you’re speaking foreign language
nothing i can translate
you’re speaking foreign language.
Where did we go wrong?
We need medication for this miscommunication
where did we go wrong?
Our conversation’s weakened
conversations weakened

Boys speak in rhythm and girls in code
doo doo doo doo
doo doo doo doo
Boys speak in rhythm and girls just lie