What is “Gasoline Hymn” about?
"Gasoline Hymn," the title track, turns the road into a church, one the narrator built out of bad ideas with a choir made of barroom tears. It traces a daughter who ran far from her mother's prayers for a kinder girl, writing her faith on dashboards and gas station walls, before calling listeners to lift their hands and shout "I'm alive right now." Placed second to last on the album, it gathers the record's sacred and profane imagery into one refrain.
Gasoline Hymn lyrics
I built a church out of bad ideas
I built a choir out of bar room tears
I crossed the bridge and I lit the map
I ain't going back, I ain't going back
My mama prayed for a kinder girl
I gave her thunder, I gave her pearl
I gave her every mile I ran
I gave her everything I am
Lift your hands if you ever got saved
Lift your hands if you ever got brave
Lift your hands if you know my name
Lift your hands, lift 'em up, feel the flame
Sing it, sing it, gasoline hymn
Sing it for the road that we've been given
Sing it, sing it, gasoline hymn
For every ghost that we are still forgiving
Sing it loud, sing it loud
I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive right now
Gasoline hymn
I wrote my name on a dashboard bible
I wrote my heart on a gas station wall
I wrote my prayer in a hundred towns
And I heard 'em all sing it back to me now
Lift your hands if you ever got saved
Lift your hands if you ever got brave
Lift your hands if you know my name
Lift your hands, lift 'em up, feel the flame
Sing it, sing it, gasoline hymn
Sing it for the road that we've been given
Sing it, sing it, gasoline hymn
For every ghost that we are still forgiving
Sing it loud, sing it loud
I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive right now
Gasoline hymn
I was buried, now I'm burning
I was silent, now I'm sound
Every mile a resurrection
Every scar a holy crown
Sing it, sing it, gasoline hymn
Sing it for the road that we've been given
Sing it, sing it, gasoline hymn
I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive right now