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This song has always had me confused. Being that Anberlin is a Christian alternative band, it took me by surprise to hear this extremely sad and, at times, cynical song seemingly questioning God. But it hearing it leaves me completely captivated every time. There is obviously a huge amount of emotion and back story behind this song so I endeavored to find out what the writer had to say about it. This is what I found:
Stephen: “Fin” (pronounced like the fin on a shark’s back) means ending in French. I felt like this was a conclusion (or just a start) to my epic tug-of-war with God. I have a lot of questions, a lot that I may never really understand or have the capacity to comprehend in this lifetime. “Fin” is a series of four stories, that all tie together in the line ‘patron saint of lost causes.’ The first story is a personal memoir about my life as a child and the pull on my soul even then. I deliberated even at eight years old, that it would be better that God and the devil would just both leave me alone. The second story is about a couple from my early teen years’ church who cried for a miracle. It was a promised miracle, and it never came about. That leaves an impression. The third is about a mentor that used the guise of ‘missions work’ to leave his family in shambles and eventually decay. That plays with your salvation, when one experiences it. [The fourth story is about] Billy, a traveling ‘ healer’ who crippled my life and growth right in front of me. All these things and many, many others made me lose my salvation. But later in life I realized I needed to stop looking at Christians to see Christ. I wrestled with God, and he won.
Tablature
The tab that follows only represents the first part of the song (up until about 3:30).
Guitar 1 Main Rhythm Figure:
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & | 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & |
-0--------0--0--0--0--------0--0--0--|-0--------0--0--0--0--------0--0--0--|
-0--------0--0--0--0--------0--0--0--|-0--------0--0--0--0--------0--0--0--|
-9--------9--9--9--9--------9--9--9--|-6--------6--6--6--6--------6--6--6--|
-11-------11-11-11-11-------11-11-11-|-7--------7--7--7--7--------7--7--7--|
-11-------11-11-11-11-------11-11-11-|-7--------7--7--7--7--------7--7--7--|
-9--------9--9--9--9--------9--9--9--|-5--------5--5--5--5--------5--5--5--|
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & | 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & |
-0--------0--0--0--0--------0--0--0--|-0--------0--0--0--0--------0--0--0--|
-0--------0--0--0--0--------0--0--0--|-0--------0--0--0--0--------0--0--0--|
-1--------1--1--1--1--------1--1--1--|-8--------8--8--8--8--------8--8--8--|
-2--------2--2--2--2--------2--2--2--|-9--------9--9--9--9--------9--9--9--|
-2--------2--2--2--2--------2--2--2--|-9--------9--9--9--9--------9--9--9--|
-0--------0--0--0--0--------0--0--0--|-7--------7--7--7--7--------7--7--7--|
Guitar 1, Bridge (at the “That you are the patron saint..” part).
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & | 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & |
-------------------------------0-----|-------------0-----------------0-----|
-------------------------5-----------|-------4-----------------4-----------|
-6-----------------6-----------------|-6-----------------6-----------------|
-7-----------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
-7-----------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
-5-----------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
Guitar 2, Main Rhythm Figure:
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & | 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & |
-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
-4--------6--------7--------2--------|-------------------------------------|
-------------------------------------|-5-----------------------------------|
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & | 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & |
-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
-4------------------------------5\4--|-2-----------------------------------|
Lyrics:
Feels like you’re miles from here
In other towns with lesser names
Where the unholy ghost doesn’t tell
Mary or William exactly what they want to hear
You remember the house on Ridge Road
Told you and the devil to both just leave me alone
If this is salvation, I can show you the trembling
You’ll just have to trust me, I’m scared
I am the patron saint of lost causes
Aren’t we all to you just near lost causes?
Aren’t we all to you, just lost?
Tommy, you left behind something
That’ll mean everything right before you die
What if you gained the whole world?
You’ve already lost four little souls from your life
Widows and orphans aren’t hard to find
They’re home missing daddy, who’s saving the abandoned tonight.
Wish your drinking would hurry and kill you
Sympathy’s better than having to tell you the truth
That you are the patron saint of lost causes
All you are to them is now a lost cause
All you are to them is now, causes.
Billy, don’t you understand?
Timothy stood as long as he could
And now, you made his faith disappear
More like a magician and less like a man of the cloth.
We’re not questioning God
Just those He chose to carry on His cross
We’re no better, you’ll see
Just all of us, the lost causes
Aren’t we all to you just lost causes?
Are we all to you lost, lost causes?
So all we are to you is all we are, is all we are
All we are is all we are.
[Choir:]
Patron Saint, are we all lost like you?
Patron Saint, are we all lost like you?
Patron Saint, are we all lost like you?
Patron Saint, are we all lost like you?
Patron Saint, are we all lost like you?
(Lost causes, we are is all we are)
Patron Saint, are we all lost like you?
(To you, lost causes)
Patron Saint, are we all lost like you?
Patron Saint, are we all lost like you?
Patron Saint, are we all lost like you?
He just saved
)