[Verse 1]
The lion and lamb once slept between the roses
And God and man once walked beneath the pine
My heart once felt the joy of consummation
When I was called my Father's holy prize
[Chorus]
But in the garden
Ooh ooh, we used to stay out all night
In the garden
Ooh ooh, we used to laugh for days and days and days
In the garden
Ooh ooh, we never needed to hide
'Cause in the garden
Ooh ooh, You used to be mine
You used to be mine
[Verse 2]
The thorns dug in my heels have got me bleeding
Each breath, the draining sand of numbered days
Yeah, my rebel heart is crying for salvation
Come save me from my wayward spirit's grave
[Chorus]
But in the garden
Ooh ooh, we used to stay out all night
In the garden
Ooh ooh, we used to laugh for days and days and days
In the garden
Ooh ooh, we never needed to hide
'Cause in the garden
Ooh ooh, You used to be mine
You used to be mine
[Bridge]
Used to be mine
Used to be mine
Used to be mine
[Verse 3]
In my dying days, a light met my hearts waning
A Voice calling like thunder through the dust
When lifted to His lips the cup of breaking
The Father turns away from His own Son
But in death, the earth was shaken from its spinning
A Hand reached out to save me from the waves
And my stone heart was pulled out of my body
And by grace a garden grew up in its place
Yeah, by grace a garden grew up in its place
Used To Be Mine
Song Meaning
Chris Renzema describes Eden without naming it in "Used To Be Mine" — "the lion and lamb once slept between the roses, and God and man once walked beneath the pine" — and "my heart once felt the joy of consummation, when I was called my Father's holy prize" keeps the loss personal rather than only historical.
"In the garden, we used to stay out all night, we used to laugh for days and days and days, we never needed to hide" repeats the same structure three times before landing on its central claim, "You used to be mine," naming distance in the plainest possible terms. "The thorns dug in my heels have got me bleeding" answers the garden's ease with the ground's actual curse, and "my rebel heart is crying for salvation" names the wrong turn directly rather than blaming circumstance.
"When lifted to His lips the cup of breaking, the Father turns away from His own Son" borrows Gethsemane's language exactly, and "a Hand reached out to save me from the waves" answers the earlier drowning image from the opposite direction. "My stone heart was pulled out of my body, and by grace a garden grew up in its place" closes the song reversing its own opening image — the garden once lost is the garden finally restored, in the same breath as the loss it answers.