[Verse 1]
Yeah, Mr. Deeds has got you wrapped around his finger
With what you think you need to do to be delivered
You look for accidents so you can be the hero
You wrote the charity check that ends in double zeros
You help old ladies cross the street,
You welcome homeless where you sleep
You give to everyone in need,
You even hold a city key
Aren't you great?
But that's not good enough
[Chorus]
If you don't have faith you have nothing at all
If you don't have deeds your faith will fall
They can't be true without each other
you can't have one without the other
[Verse 2]
You think that faith is where you sit in a sunday morning
You've got a front row seat where you can be seen snoring
Throughout the week you live your life inside a bubble
You find your happiness avoiding people's thoughts
Your life revolves around yourself,
You don't treat others very well
You say your faith will get you by and that
you won't be left behind
You might be right, but that's not good enough
[Chorus]
If you don't have deeds you have nothing at all
If you don't have faith your deeds will fall
They can't be true without each other
You can't have one without the other
[Bridge]
You know I can't see thinking
That I'd be better off living just for selfish ambition, no
I know that faith is more than just believing
We should do the right
Things, for the right reasons
Deeds
Song Meaning
Sanctus Real builds "Deeds" from a character sketch rather than a lecture — "Mr. Deeds has got you wrapped around his finger with what you think you need to do to be delivered" — naming good works pursued for the wrong reason before listing them: "you help old ladies cross the street, you welcome homeless where you sleep... aren't you great?"
"But that's not good enough" interrupts the list of good deeds directly, refusing to let visible generosity settle the question. The chorus states its actual argument as a balanced equation — "if you don't have faith you have nothing at all, if you don't have deeds your faith will fall, they can't be true without each other" — insisting on both halves rather than favoring either.
The second verse turns the same critique toward the opposite failure — "you think that faith is where you sit in a Sunday morning, you've got a front row seat where you can be seen snoring" — showing empty religious performance is just as incomplete as empty charity. "Your life revolves around yourself, you don't treat others very well" names the cost of faith without action plainly, and the bridge's closing claim, "I know that faith is more than just believing, we should do the right things, for the right reasons," states the song's whole argument in its final, simplest form.