Jonathan McReynolds - Stay High Lyrics
Lyrics
Heeeyyy... No ooooo hmmmmm
You can't catch a bird while it's flying in the air
No, you gotta wait till it comes to the ground
And you can't stop a saint while they're in full flight
No, the devil's gotta wait till we come down
So I'll Stay High,
I ain't coming down for no reason, I'll be reading my word,
I ain't coming down for no satan, I'll be praying to my Lord,
I ain't coming down for no sinning, while I'm living for my God,
I ain't coming down for nobody, no I'll just Stay High
High High High
So watch me Fly
Fly Fly Fly
Say we've all got targets on our back,
Cos all heaven and hell knows our worth,
So I'm standing guard, cos life's coming hard,
Soon as we walk out of church.
So, I'll Stay High,
I ain't coming down for no reason, I'll be reading my word,
I ain't coming down for no satan, I'll be praying to my Lord,
I ain't coming down for no sinning, while I'm living for my God,
I ain't coming down for nobody, no I'll just Stay High
High High High High
So watch me Fly
Fly (Yeah!)
Fly Fly (Through Jesus, we're more than conquerors C'mon)
No, you can't bring me down at all,
You can't bring me down
Regardless, more than every circumstance,
You just hop over the competition Like Jordan
I'm opposite the jump, man
So on your grace and mercy, I will fly,
when they hate more, I'll pray more, Yes Lord,
Imma Stay High
High High (Imma Stay High) High
(So watch me) Fly Fly
Like an eagle im'a fly Fly
Even when the service is over (Just Stay High)
And when your friends stay rolling in the dirt, no (Just Stay High)
When your family make you wanna curse, no (Just Stay High)
Someday, we all gotta learn to (Just Stay High)
Mount up with wings like an eagle (Just Stay High)
Know you've got a purpose, so (Just Stay High)
Don't ever let them bring you down, now (Just Stay High)
And You don't even need them drugs now, you just gotta (Stay High)
I know that it ain't looking good now (You Just Gotta Stay High ah aha ha)
And don't you worry about tomorrow (You Just Gotta Stay High)
God gave us strength to Stay High (Stay High)
You Just Gotta Stay High
You Just Gotta Stay High
Stay High...
You Just Gotta Stay High
High
(Bro the song is over, aha aha ha)
Video
Jonathan McReynolds - Stay High (Unplugged) (Music Video)
Meaning & Inspiration
Jonathan McReynolds leans into a precarious metaphor here: "You can't catch a bird while it's flying in the air." It is a charming image, perhaps even a bit colloquial, but as a student of dogma, I find myself squinting at the implication. Does the Christian life consist of perpetual flight, an altitude achieved through sheer force of will or rigorous reading of the Word? If we view "staying high" as a state of being removed from the muck of the world, we risk drifting toward a gnostic detachment.
Scripture, however, presents a different tension. Paul writes to the Philippians about a peace that guards the heart, yes, but he writes it from a prison cell—the very place one is "caught" when they descend. The temptation in McReynolds' lyrics is to treat the "high" as a fortress against the "dirt." But the doctrine of the Incarnation demands that we do not despise the ground. Christ did not stay high; He descended into the mess of humanity, becoming flesh, precisely because that is where the battle for our redemption was waged. If we only fly, are we still incarnational, or are we just avoiding the cross?
Yet, there is a distinct weight to his confession: "all heaven and hell knows our worth." Here, McReynolds touches on the Imago Dei. We are not merely objects of a celestial tug-of-war; we possess an intrinsic, God-breathed significance that makes us targets. When he sings, "I'll be reading my word," he isn't suggesting a talismanic defense, but rather the necessary anchoring of the mind in the truth of God’s decree. The "flight" here is not an escape from reality, but an insistence on the supremacy of the Spirit over the dictates of the flesh.
The trouble arises in the human tendency to mistake "staying high" for a lack of vulnerability. We want to be untouchable. We want to be the bird that never lands. But grace is not a fuel for perpetual elevation; it is the ground that receives us when we inevitably falter. The apostle Peter knew what it was to fly—to walk on water, even—and he also knew the catastrophic velocity of the descent. The beauty of the gospel is not that we stay above the fray, but that even in the dirt, we remain tethered to the One who ascended on our behalf.
I wonder if McReynolds realizes that the most "dangerous" place for a saint is not on the ground, but in the pride of thinking they are too elevated to stumble. Still, there is a defiance in his closing lines that carries a genuine, gritty hope. We do not need the artificial highs of the world because we are already caught in the orbit of a sovereign God. If "staying high" means keeping one’s eyes fixed on the author of our faith despite the circumstances, then perhaps he is onto something. Just don’t forget that even eagles must eventually come down to nest.