Bring 'Em All In

A big thanks to Tracy Witham for pointing me to a great song by The Waterboys, a band new to me. Tracy suggests this could be a theme song for the blog given our interest in universal reconciliation in Christ. The song is "Bring 'Em All In" and was written by Mike Scott.

The lyrics of "Bring 'Em All In":
Bring 'em all in, bring' em all in, bring 'em all in,
bring 'em all in, bring 'em all into my heart

Bring the little fishes
bring the sharks
bring 'em from the brightness
bring 'em from the dark

Bring 'em from the caverns
bring 'em from the heights
bring 'em from the shadows
stand 'em in the light

Bring 'em out of purdah
bring 'em out of store
bring 'em out of hiding
lay them at my door

Bring the unforgiven
bring the unredeemed
bring the lost, the nameless
let 'em all be seen
bring 'em out of exile
bring 'em out of sleep
bring 'em to the portal
lay them at my feet

Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in,
bring 'em all in, bring 'em all into my heart
You can hear Mike Scott and The Waterboys performing the song here. You can also hear (one of my favorite bands) the Wailin Jennys cover the song here.

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10 thoughts on “Bring 'Em All In”

  1. Delighted that you've discovered one of my favourite bands over the course of twenty-five years, Richard - the only band I know who've set one of MacDonald's poems to music (Room to Roam), made reference to Lewis's Perelandra and GM's Lilith and Phantases in a single song (Universal Hall) and never a religious cliche in sight. There is a huge and rich back catalogue to explore. If you're a Yeats devotee, I recommend their latest album currently playing on my car stereo, only available via Amazon.

  2. Great song! I've been interested in the idea of universal reconciliation for a while, so I have been excited to see your posts about it. Are there any books about it that you would recommend? My introduction to it was The Shack Revisited.

  3. The "go to" text for many years has been Thomas Talbott's The Inescapable Love of God. A more biblical treatment is Robin Parry's The Evangelical Universalist. An while his prose and style may be dated for modern readers, the book that moved me in this direction was Unspoken Sermons by George MacDonald.

  4. Great song - the Wailing Jenny's version in particular moves me. Something about the female voice in folk or celtic music always gets me.

  5. Great track! And a wonderful find for the Spotify playlists. Looking forward to the Wailing Jenny version.

  6. The Waterboys/Mike Scott are one of my all-time favorites as well. I highly recommend both "Universal Hall" and "Bring 'Em All In," both of which are at least partially inspired by Scott's time at Findhorn in Scotland.

    Here's another favorite:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSX6Yz6QE7M


    I keep meaning to make a mix CD called "Sunday School of Rock" and when I do, I'll be sure to send a copy.

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