for KING & COUNTRY – Burn The Ships

Australian brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone created Austoville in 2007, renaming it to Joel & Luke before releasing their EP A Tale of Two Towns in 2008. Dissatisfied with their band’s name, in 2009, they renamed it to For King & Country (stylized as for KING & COUNTRY) for the following reason:

“We wanted a band name that carried more meaning. We were in the studio recording our debut record that Joel had the idea of All The King’s Men, like the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme. Our producer overheard our conversation and swung around in his chair and said, ‘What about For King & Country?’ And we all felt a sense of providence in that moment. “For King and Country” was the battle cry of English soldiers willing to lay down their lives for their king and their country. And now it has become our mission, to lay down our lives for our King and our country.”

They released five albums and three EP’s under their current name:

• For King & Country: The EP (2011)
• Crave (2012)
• Hope Is What We Crave: Live (2013)
• Into the Silent Night: The EP (2013)
• Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong. (2014)
• The Live Room Sessions at RCA Studio A (2015) (EP)
• Christmas: Live from Phoenix (2017)
• Burn the Ships (2018)

for KING & COUNTRY received four Grammy’s and five Dove Awards, including New Artist of the Year (2013), Best Contemporary Christian Music Album (2015 and 2020), and Contemporary Christian Artist of the Year (2015 and 2016). Their latest studio album Burn the Ships won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album this year.

Throughout this review of Burn the Ships, I will refer to this artist as “4K&C”.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/For-king-and-country-burn-the-ships-lyrics.

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1. What message does the song communicate?

Examining their past and actions of a wife, 4K&C understands that wallowing in their mistakes constrains them, unable to move forward in their lives. The focus shifts specifically to the wife, addicted to pills that must go. 4K&C patiently and lovingly offer themselves as a safe space, to help the wife progress with them through prayer, indicating trust in God. The result is spiritual rebirth.

This expression is consistent with Luke’s testimony on this song, who explains that the phrase “burn the ships” is this:

“All the men were terrified of going into the unknown and he realized that even those boats were grimy, stinky and small, they wanted to stay on the boats because it was familiar. The next day he calls them out again and when all the sailors were on land, he gives the command to burn the ships because he said, ‘We’re not going to retreat. We’re going to move forward in our lives.'”

4K&C expressed this concept with clarity and accuracy.

Score: 10/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

All of these lyrics agree with the Bible.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-5: The context of “You” is a human partner.  The word “dear” is a dead giveaway that it’s a wife.

4K&C contemplates how they’ve arrived at isolation.  They are at their wit’s end, leading into a solution offered in Chorus.  It reminds me of how Jesus must have felt on the cross, as if the Father forsook Him in Matthew 27:46, Himself quoting from Psalm 22:1.

[Pre-Chorus]

Lines 1-4: 4K&C offers several solutions to address their issue:

1. Leave their past behind them (Isaiah 43:18-19, Luke 9:62, and Philippians 3:13-14).
2. Ask for God’s assistance via prayer, perhaps with the LORD’s prayer (Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4).
3. Reroute their thought process away from their former life and towards progress (Philippians 3:12-14).

[Chorus]

Lines 1-5: Rewords the three points mentioned in Pre-Chorus.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1-5: One who is arrested has been seized, bound, tied up.  The fear of making mistakes stops many in their tracks, unable to cope and move forward.  4K&C speaks to the wife mentioned in Verse 1, offering sound advice and themselves as a shelter to begin the healing process (John 15:13).  This is how Christians show Godly love (John 13:34-35, Romans 12:10, Romans 13:8, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 1 Corinthians 16:14, Ephesians 4:2-3, 1 Peter 3:8-9, 1 Peter 4:8, 1 John 3:11, 1 John 3:18, and 1 John 4:12-13).

[Bridge]

Lines 1-7: Describes the long, hard process of migrating from a constraining lifestyle of sin to a life-filled walk with Christ (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter 2:24).

[Outro]

Lines 1 and 2: Lest they become unfit for the Kingdom of God (Luke 9:62).

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

4K&C offers practical advice easily digestible for unbelievers using everyday language.  They ought to leave their past behind them and move forward in their lives.

Those outside the camp of Christ will likely see hints of spirituality.  Praying and this concept of “born again” are not hard to miss.  The latter idea will likely confound some.  It is a strictly Christian concept.

Score: 9/10

4. What does this song glorify?

4K&C glorifies God through their sound advice, that we must migrate from a dead life of our past to a renewed, born again life with Him, asking God for help through prayer.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

for KING & COUNTRY’s Burn The Ships offers great advice for everyone.  Leave the past behind us and move forward.  God will help if we ask Him through prayer.  These are Biblical concepts that bring Him glory.  My only concern is that the phrase “born again” might confuse some unbelievers.

This song is inspirational, but not worship music.  Therefore, I cannot recommend it for corporate worship.

Final Score: 9.5/10

Artist Info

Track: Burn The Ships (listen to the song)

Artist: for KING & COUNTRY

Album: Burn The Ships

Genre: Pop

Release Year: 2018

Duration: 4:36

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Updates:

03/24/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.