Lyrics
Verse
You deserve so much more than a half-baked song
Especially on an album so indulgently long
And I tried my best, I swear, but I came up empty
And maybe
Well, that's because the best of art comes from
Lacerations of the heart, but our love
Is not the kind you'd write in your stories
Nah, it's the best kind of boring
And that's not to say it's not been hard
Oh, I've been rumbling around here in the dark
I abseiled down to hell and you went with me
And so I love you, but please note
For this next song's not about you at all
In fact, if anybody else out there's still listening
It's probably for you I'm singing
Video
Meaning & Inspiration
"A Message To My Wife" reads as a private note turned into song, written for one person even as it becomes part of a public album. Benjamin William Hastings admits the songwriting itself came from difficulty, describing love that has walked through struggle rather than staying on the surface. The lyrics resist romantic cliche, calling the relationship "boring" in the best sense, a steady devotion rather than a dramatic storyline.
The closing lines turn the song outward, suggesting the words meant for a wife also speak to anyone still listening for reassurance that ordinary, tested love has value. That shift keeps the song from being purely personal; it becomes an example of covenant love that endures hardship without needing embellishment.
Placed among Christian love and wedding songs, the track offers a picture of marriage grounded less in feeling and more in commitment carried through difficulty, a portrait many couples recognize as closer to real life than the songs that inspired it.
Related Scripture
- 1 Corinthians 13:4 The song's picture of steady, unglamorous devotion echoes Paul's description of patient, enduring love.