An Analysis of “Belly of the Deepest Love” by Tow’rs

Every once in a while you come across a song that is so fantastic and beautifully written it requires a full-blown, in-depth analysis due to how well the lyrics are composed. It’s that song that when you hear it and you understand the lyrics for the first time, you are pulled to listening to it over and over again – trying to hear the intricate melodies and harmonies, working to understand the subtle nuances in the words chosen. That song for me is “Belly of the Deepest Love” by Tow’rs.

Since this is the first song analysis I’ve done, I’ll lay out what the basic format for this post will be: basically just switching between the lyrics and my commentary/analysis of the lyrics. To get started, please, please, please listen to the song either before you continue or while you read on. The tone and sound of the song helps convey so much of the song. So away we go!

[Verse 1]
I remember when I was young
I was fickle, you were so strong
I remember trees as they called your name
Mother told me listen up close
There's a story they have composed
Look how their clapping arms are a swaying high

Throughout the song, the singer ponders the suffering and Crucifixion of Christ. The song begins with the singer recalling his childhood, as his mother tells him the story of Christ. The tree’s “clapping hands” is here a reference to Isaiah 55, often subtitled as the Invitation to the Thirsty, where Isaiah prophesies about Jesus’ invitation to all to help bring heaven to earth. The song begins softly, slowly, luring you into the song with a delicate melody and an intricate harmony.

[Verse 2]
Do you remember back on the day?
When the trees swayed in the same way
How the clouds swung low over kings and thieves
How your mother stayed by your side
Watch the curtain tear in your eye
All the heavy hearts could've cracked the ground

Here the sound rises. A light banjo and percussion element are added in, bringing in a feeling of urgency. The trees and the cloud swung low over kings and thieves on the day of the Crucifixion, when Jesus was crucified next to the two thieves. Mary, the mother of Jesus, stood by at the side of the crucifixion, alongside the Apostle John. It was here when Jesus gave the care of his mother over to John (John 19:25-27). This line could also be interpreted as the singer addressing John in the crowd, how his new mother stood beside him.

The following line references the tearing of the temple curtain the moment Christ died on the cross – the curtain that symbolized the separation of the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple and the world. But with the Crucifixion, the veil was torn and the separation no longer existed.

Also, in ancient culture, tearing one’s clothes was a way of showing grief. It was a way of physically showing the grief and pain you were going through – prophets and other characters did it throughout the Bible. In this way, the veil tearing can also be seen as God poetically tearing his clothes over the death of his son.

Additionally, the hearts of the disciples are described as heavy enough to have cracked the ground, which I find as a very beautiful lyric.

[Pre-Chorus]
The beats of hammers felt like drums of war
Killed for the words you swore

The beats of the hammers as they hammered the nails into the cross must have felt like drums of war. That resounding beat and clang must have sounded horrible to Jesus’ followers. Jesus was killed for the words that he swore – namely his prophecy that the Temple would be destroyed, and the misconstruction that the Sanhedrin (the high Jewish council that illegally tried Jesus) believed. Jesus also proclaiming himself the Son of God probably didn’t resonate that well with the Sanhedrin either…

The ironic thing about the drums of war is that the clang of that hammer must have sounded like victory to the Enemies of God – after all, if the death of the Son of God doesn’t count as a victory, then what does? But at this moment that seemed so victories for those against God, it was actually God who won. Death was defeated! And as we are reminded of this truth, we are led into the chorus.

[Chorus]
From the belly of the deepest love
The hills' trembling throats sing hallelujah
Like the flowers on the dogwood tree
Blush with blame you took for me
Oh, how you wish to be with me
Oh, how you wish to be with me

As the music crescendoes to its greatest height, the lyrics become more beautiful and haunting than ever. If something comes “from the belly” it is seen as coming from the deepest parts of someone. So if this act is coming from the belly of the deepest love, then it comes from the deepest parts of that deepest love.

“The hills’ trembling throats” is likely a reference to Psalm 98, which includes the line “Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together.”

The reference to the dogwood tree is an interesting one, and probably one of my favorite parts in this song. There’s an old Christian legend (based largely on this poem, author unknown) that says that the tree on which Christ was crucified was, in fact, a dogwood tree and that the trees used to be much bigger than they are today – comparable to the size of an oak tree. The dogwood tree was chosen as the wood for crosses due to great size and strength, but seeing how the wood was being used, Christ stated that “Never again shall the dogwood grow / Large enough to be used so. / Slender and twisted, it shall be / With blossoms like the cross for all to see”.

“Like the flowers on the dogwood tree” relate to the bloom of the dogwood, which according to the legend, Christ made in the appearance of a cross so that whenever someone saw it they would be reminded of his sacrifice. The petals are often more equal in size but have been known to appear in a more traditional cross-shape, like the one above. The end of each petal also has a hole, where the nails would’ve been in the cross (two for the hands, one for the feet, and on for the sign reading INRI above Christ’s head, for four in total). The interior of those holes will also occasionally have a rust-color lining them – the same color as the nails in the cross.

[Verse 3]
Do you remember seeing the Man?
Covered by the same blood He damned
Join the song with the sky in the darkest hour
I need something to hold onto
Stronger than the iron that held You
Louder than the roar of the crowd that day

“The Man” here is Jesus, covered in the “same blood he damned,” as in, his own blood. Here, the singer is saying that Jesus sacrificed himself, and having been separated from God in his sacrifice (hence the “Why have you forsaken me?”), was “damned” in the sense that he was separated from God.

In Matthew 27, it says that during the Crucifixion a great darkness came over the land from the sixth hour until the ninth hour (that is, from noon to three in the afternoon), which would normally be the brightest hours of the day. Here, the singer invites us to join the song of despair and sadness that the sky is reflecting in its “darkest hour”.

[Outro]
I tried to get to you
But you came to me instead
With the dawn the grave is gone
Oh, how you wish to be with me

This stanza doesn’t really call for explanation, but it does call for contemplation and reflection. I have tried to get to God. And tried, and tried, and tried. But He in His mercy came to us instead. The grave is empty, and Christ is reigning! God’s desire for a relationship and a partner to work with shows itself as the reason behind it all and the focus of the song.

This song has quickly become one of my favorites, and I hope this post has helped you to see why. It’s so beautifully written and filled to the brim with Biblical references and imagery. Its poignant wording and haunting melody is one that makes me want to listen to it over and over again, getting more and more out of it each time.

I hope you all enjoyed this post – I haven’t gotten the chance to listen to a whole lot of Tow’rs music (which is why I decided to just do a song analysis instead of my usual Christian Creatives post), but if the rest of their writing is anything close to “Belly of the Deepest Love,” I’m excited.