Touch the Sky

The opening track of Hillsong United’s latest album, Empires, ‘Touch the Sky’ hones the amalgamation of subtle textures and enraptured lyrics. In doing so the track masterfully unpacks the redemptive message of Christ, all the while maintaining its sense of immediacy and spiritual grandeur.

Centering on the theme of surrender, the song makes use of a range of rhetorical devices, most notably: antithesis, assonance and repetition.

What fortune lies beyond the stars
Those dazzling heights too vast to climb

The song’s opens in dramatic fashion, detailing the ‘fortune’ that lies beyond the stars ‘those dazzling heights,’ representative of the songwriter’s longing for something greater. The imagery and figurative speech used in these lines creates a solemn if not expansive quality, inviting the listener to contemplate, whether they find themselves in a similar position, and facing a hurdle ‘too vast to climb.’ Furthermore the use of anastrophe, the departure from normal word order, evident in the lyrical phrasing, gives special prominence to this message.

I got so high to fall so far but I found heaven as love swept low

The song continues to unravel the songwriter’s conflict, dramatizing their fall from grace and ensuing revelation, the antithesis of heaven being found as ‘love swept love.’ In a traditional sense, heaven is most often depicted as a place high above beyond the realm of our existence. However the writer reveals that’s it is in fact closer than we know, not a distant abode for a select few but a home with door open to all. 

My heart beating, my soul breathing

I found my life when I laid it down

Upward falling, spirit soaring

Finally reaching its crescendo, the writer experiences an awakening of sorts as they realize what they must do. The use of personification in these lines, ‘my soul breathing…spirit soaring,’ reflects their lease of new life and energy, having let go and surrendered their burden. Continuing on, the use of the oxymoron’s ‘I found my life when I laid it down’ and ‘upward falling,’ serve to highlight the paradox of what surrender truly is.

I touch the sky when my knees hit the ground

The song’s refrain serves as an oxymoron, in that it doesn’t adhere to one’s typical frame of thought, essentially stating that the way up is down. In keeping with its message, the song makes reference to a number of biblical scriptures and truths, most notably the Beatitudes. Climbing on top a mountain, Jesus began to talk about the kingdom of heaven and how it works in direct contrast to the system of society, where everyone struggles to get on top. He declared that the meek would inherit the kingdom and that true greatness was found in surrendering to this truth and being a servant to all 

What treasure waits within Your scars
This gift of freedom gold can't buy
I bought the world and sold my heart
You traded heaven to have me again

Once more the song makes use of allusion, the second verse presenting a striking depiction of God’s sacrifice. In doing so, the writer displays the free and unmerited favor of God, going as far as trading heaven to have them again.

Moreover the use of figurative language and antithesis as before, allows the listener to properly grasp and appreciate the true magnitude of the words being sung.

My heart beating, my soul breathing
I found my life when I laid it down
Upward falling, spirit soaring
I touch the sky when my knees hit the ground

The repetition of the chorus allows the songwriter to further enforce the theme of surrender, in addition to the song’s refrain. With every rerun, these elements are further impressed on the listener’s mind.

Find me here at Your feet again
Everything I am, reaching out, I surrender
Come sweep me up in Your love again
And my soul will dance
On the wings of forever

The second line of the bridge opens in striking fashion, as the writer declares: ‘Everything I am, reaching out, I surrender.’ This line stands out in particular, as the use of scesis onomaton in conjugation with tricolon adds urgency to its call. What’s more the use of personification, found in the final two lines makes use of an interesting play on words, as one’s soul is the spiritual and immaterial part of them, regarded as immortal.

Upward falling, spirit soaring
I touch the sky
When my knees hit the ground

The song’s message is concisely captured in the wide screen colors of the closing verse.

A snippet of the chorus, the final verse makes use of its last three lines. The purpose of this repetition as one might suspect is that it forever indents the song and it’s message of grace and surrender itself and the song’s message in the listener’s mind.