Jimmy Needham - The Story Lyrics
Lyrics
This is a story
A story about a Hero and a damsel
A villain and a scandal
Bend down, untie your sandals
Cause where we're going is holy ground
Starts like this:
In the beginning there was the Hero.
And the Hero was the Father.
And the Hero was the Spirit.
And the Hero was the Son.
And if this hurts your head already,
Welcome to the kingdom
Immutable, inscrutable, infinitely
Glad-hearted, triune perfection
His ancient love reverberated off each Member with no hint of dissension
Perfect in unity
Perfect in diversity
Holy trinity
And even before the rocks could cry out His name
He was singing his own praises
How could he not?
You know anyone else who goes by
"The Rock of Ages"?
He needed nothing from no one,
As if something made could improve
Upon His majesty
His majesty's amp was already at 11
And if this was the end of our story
That'd be enough for us to
Glory for a thousand eternities at Him,
But our story isn't over cause one day
The Hero started speaking
And when He started speaking,
Things started being
Light, night, wind, water, mud, moons,
Seas and spiders, swimmers
And flyers, gallopers and gliders,
Stars and seasons, rhyme and reason to all
Of it and all of it was good
And suddenly all the commotion came to a standstill, when our Hero
Bent down fashioned His damsel
God leaned over our body of earth
Breathed life into our lungs
Made our heart beat from dirt
He put light in our eyes
He gave us each other
And He gave us Himself as a prize
And we were naked and were not ashamed
But of course, the plot thickens
Enter stage right The Villain
The serpent was craftier
Than any beast in the garden
He made a beeline for the tree line
And found Eve and her husband
And in less than fifty words
He convinced perfectly satisfied people
They were starving to death
And since that day
God's damsel has known nothing but
Starving to death
The poison of asps is heavy on her breath.
We traded the glory of the incorruptible God for a silly substitute
Like a school kid duped into giving up
His brand new Jordan's
For a pair of worn out tennis shoes
We became dark-hearted
Bent inward on a mission to find
within ourselves the solution,
Like trying to number the stars
While gazing through L.A.'s air pollution
We couldn't see
And we fell in love with lesser things
And we bought them each a diamond ring
And we betrayed our Maker,
Our Husband, our King
Let me clarify
This doesn't just apply
To the treacherous and murderous
Even the best of us
Are as bad as the worst of us
Outwardly clean
But inside full of dead men's bones
Like the Taj Mahal,
It looks good and all
But there's nobody home
And one terrible day
We looked around
But there was no more villain
To be found
He crawled inside of us
Like a virus, rewired us
And now the damsel
Is the villain as well
We tied our own self
To the train tracks
The horn blows and careening
Toward us is 10,000 tons
Of God's wrath sounds so loud
You can barely hear
The screaming chorus
"Who will save us from the
Body of this death?!"
Enter stage left, Jesus of Nazareth
The Word became flesh
And dwelt among us
He came lowly
Perfectly holy
He came like a groom
On his way to the altar
To meet the bride
And for the dowry,
He had no cash
So He paid with his life
Are you shocked
By the consequence of sin?
Be more shocked
By the mercy of him
Couldn't free ourselves
So Christ became our freedom
Couldn't fill these lungs
So He became our breathing
We live because He died
Once a harlot now a bride
Sins were scarlet,
Now made white
Perfect by proxy
Saved by a surrogate
Holy through Him
The Hero and the damsel are one,
Once again
But wait,
I haven't told you the best part yet
As if there wasn't enough here already
To impress you the best part
About this story is the story is true
The only fairytale that's not a fairytale
So long mother goose
Farewell Dr. Seuss
This here's the genuine article
God made
We strayed
God's love, displayed
God-man gives grace
Stands in our place
Our sins erased
Debt paid always
So fall on your face,
And give God all praise
Video
Jimmy Needham - The Story (Lyric Video)
Meaning & Inspiration
Released on May 4, 2015, as part of the album *Vice & Virtue*, Jimmy Needham's "The Story" unfolds as a masterful lyrical journey, meticulously narrating the grand arc of biblical history from creation to redemption. Eschewing traditional song structures for a spoken-word delivery that feels both intimate and authoritative, Needham invites us to remove our sandals, declaring the ground we're about to tread is "holy," an echo of Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush (Exodus 3:5). This immediate call to reverence sets the stage for an exploration of the divine drama, starring a Hero, a damsel, a villain, and a scandal—a framework that brilliantly encapsulates the Christian worldview.
The narrative commences with the Hero, identified as the Triune God: Father, Spirit, and Son. Needham deftly tackles the profound mystery of the Trinity, acknowledging its mind-bending nature while emphasizing God's "immutable, inscrutable, infinitely glad-hearted, triune perfection." This depiction resonates with Scripture that reveals God's self-existence and eternal glory, needing "nothing from no one" (Acts 17:25), yet existing in perfect unity and diversity within Himself (Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 28:19). Before creation, God was already "singing His own praises," an expression of His inherent worthiness and self-sufficiency, a truth affirmed by passages like Revelation 4:11, where all glory is ascribed to Him as the Creator.
The story then shifts to creation, illustrating God's power as the Hero begins "speaking," and "things started being." This mirrors Genesis 1 and Psalm 33:6, where the universe springs forth by divine decree. The lyrical inventory of light, night, wind, water, and life forms captures the intricate beauty and intentionality of God's design. The climax of creation arrives with the fashioning of the "damsel"—humanity. Needham describes God bending down, breathing life into our lungs from dirt, placing light in our eyes, granting us each other, and offering Himself as "a prize." This profound imagery directly references Genesis 2:7, Psalm 139:13-16, and subtly points to God's desire for relationship with His creation. The initial state of humanity, "naked and were not ashamed" (Genesis 2:25), underscores the purity and unblemished intimacy shared with the Creator before sin.
However, the plot inevitably thickens with the entry of the Villain, the serpent, who, with chilling craftiness (Genesis 3:1-7), deceives perfectly satisfied people into believing they were "starving to death." This act of treachery introduces the "scandal" of sin, where humanity trades "the glory of the incorruptible God for a silly substitute" (Romans 1:23). Needham vividly portrays the consequence: humanity becomes "dark-hearted, bent inward," desperately seeking solutions within themselves, akin to "trying to number the stars while gazing through L.A.'s air pollution." This speaks to the futility of human effort apart from God (Jeremiah 17:9, Proverbs 14:12) and our propensity to "fall in love with lesser things," betraying our Maker and King (Romans 1:25).
A crucial turning point in the narrative is Needham's clarification that this doesn't apply only to the "treacherous and murderous"; rather, "even the best of us are as bad as the worst of us." This confronts the pervasive nature of sin, revealing that outwardly clean individuals can be "inside full of dead men's bones" (Matthew 23:27). The Villain, sin, "crawled inside of us like a virus, rewired us," transforming the damsel into the villain as well. This profound theological statement, that humanity itself is enslaved to sin (Romans 7:18-20), sets up the desperate cry: "Who will save us from the body of this death?!" (Romans 7:24). It is into this dire scenario that the true Hero, Jesus of Nazareth, enters.
The arrival of Jesus brings the climax of God's redemptive plan. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14), a perfect and holy Savior who came "lowly" (Philippians 2:6-8). Needham beautifully casts Christ as a groom on his way to the altar, paying the dowry not with cash, but "with his life" for his bride, the church (Ephesians 5:25-27, Mark 10:45). This act of self-sacrificial love is described as "more shocking" than the consequences of sin, highlighting God's boundless mercy (Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:4-5). Through Christ, we who "couldn't free ourselves" find freedom (Galatians 5:1), and our scarlet sins are "now made white" (Isaiah 1:18). We are made "perfect by proxy, saved by a surrogate, holy through Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:24), achieving reconciliation where "the Hero and the damsel are one, once again."
Needham concludes by revealing "the best part" of this story: it is true. It is "the only fairytale that's not a fairytale," surpassing all other narratives because it's the "genuine article" (John 14:6, 2 Timothy 3:16). The song powerfully summarizes the gospel message: "God made, We strayed, God's love displayed, God-man gives grace, Stands in our place, Our sins erased, Debt paid always." This concise articulation of God's initiative, humanity's fall, and Christ's substitutionary atonement (Romans 5:8, John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 5:21) culminates in an urgent and inspiring call to worship: "So fall on your face, And give God all praise" (Psalm 95:6). "The Story" is more than just a song; it's a profound theological treatise, delivered with artistic precision and spiritual fervor, leaving its hearers not just informed, but compelled to embrace the truth of God's magnificent plan.