Take Heart

Citizens' “Take Heart” opens with a series of instructions that read like a quest: “Go, into the dead of the night / Don't bring a torch or a knife,” then “Out in the deep of the woods / You'll be the prey of the wolves.” Each is paired with the same reassurance, “Don't be afraid, there's a light inside of you they cannot take.” The warning that others will say you've “lost your mind to some archaic way” shows that the faith being sketched here is not fashionable.

The second verse raises the danger, “Run, into the heart of the flame / Stare down the eyes of the grave,” and then stakes the promise on it: “You'll never die, that's a promise you can bet on with your life.” The refrain, “Take heart,” is answered by voices singing “I have overcome” and then “You have overcome,” and eventually “We have overcome,” as the claim moves from Christ to the singers.

The final words are spoken as Jesus's, “I have said all these things so that in Me you'd have peace / In this world you'll have trouble.” That is John 16:33, which also supplies the title and the “overcome” line. The refusal to fear in dark places is close to Psalm 23:4.