Travis Greene + Forward City - Leper's Song Lyrics
Lyrics
Verse 1: I - remember where I was when You found me They told me, that I was Untouchable You - You came & wrapped Your arms around me Gave me hope in darkness
Pre-Chorus: You knew my secrets You saw my broken pieces You came anyway So I came back to say
Chorus: You have done So Much More Than I could ask You for Needed a Miracle You made a Way out of No Way Gave me an Open Door I had Nowhere to Go I’ll be the one to Come Back & say Thank You
Verse 2: I remember who I was when You called me They told me, that I was Unusable You - You would not let my past define me Gave me new identity
Bridge 1: When others forget & move on There’s a worship that I owe I can’t get over what You’ve done Here I am to Say Thank You
Verse 3: I - remember how it felt when You saw me They told me, that I was Unlovable You - You washed the Leper’s spots completely Off me - Now I’m free to worship
Vamp: I’ll be the one, I’ll be the one I’ll be the one, I’ll be the one to come back You were the One, the Only One I’ll be the one, I’ll be the one To come back and Say Thank You
Bridge 2: When others left, You wouldn’t leave You came close, covered me Morning by morning, New Mercies Here I am to Say Thank You
Bridge 3: My spots are gone, the Debt was Paid You stepped up, Took my Place The Savior’s Love, Amazing Grace Here I am to Say Thank You
FWD - LEPER'S SONG -
Video
Leper's Song | Travis Greene and Forward City | (Official Music Video)
Meaning & Inspiration
They labeled me "Unusable." That word hits different when you’ve spent your life convinced your inventory of failures is all you’ve got to offer. You get used to the cold shoulder, the way people move their chairs a little further away, the way they whisper that you’re a lost cause.
In Travis Greene and Forward City’s "Leper’s Song," there’s a line that stopped me cold: "They told me that I was Unlovable / You washed the Leper’s spots completely off me."
Most of the time, religion feels like it’s about polishing the outside. It’s about making sure your clothes are clean and your story sounds good for the Sunday crowd. But I’m still scraping the mud off my boots. I’m still smelling like the pigpen I just climbed out of, and the smoke from the bridge I burned is still clinging to my jacket. When I hear those lyrics, I don’t hear a hymn; I hear an admission of a crime being erased.
You read about the lepers in the Gospels—Luke 5, the guy falling at Jesus’ feet—and you realize the scandal isn't that Jesus healed him. The scandal is that He touched him. Everyone else had a rule, a boundary, a reason to stay ten feet back to keep their own hands clean. But here is the Creator of everything, not just waving from a distance, but reaching into the mess.
He didn’t just look at my "spots"—the addiction, the anger, the times I traded everything for a thrill that lasted ten minutes—and tell me to go clean myself up first. He reached into it. That’s the "Way out of No Way" they’re singing about. It’s not some abstract miracle; it’s the physical reality of being handled when I was convinced I was toxic.
I struggle with the "thank you" part, though. When you’ve lived the way I have, gratitude feels heavy. It feels like I’m trying to pay back a debt that’s trillions of dollars deep with a handful of loose change. "There’s a worship that I owe," the song says. Yeah, I owe it. But sometimes, when I try to open my mouth to say it, all I can think about is how undeserving I am of the seat at the table.
It’s messy. I’m still figuring out how to be "free to worship" when the shame still has a habit of trying to pull up a chair in my head. But maybe that’s the point. You don’t have to be perfect to come back. You just have to be the one who realizes that while everyone else was busy counting your spots, He was busy paying the price to take them away.
I’m still here. I’m still stained in some places, and I’m still learning how to walk without looking over my shoulder to see who’s judging. But I’m here. And that’s enough for today.