Manafest (Feat. Trevor McNevan) – Come Back Home

Canadian rapper Manafest began his career in 2000.  He released eleven albums and three EPS, including:

• Misled Youth (EP, 2001)
• My Own Thing (2003)
• Epiphany (2005)
• Glory (2006)
• Citizens Activ (2008)
• The Chase (2010)
• Avalanche – No Plan B (EP, 2010)
• Live in Concert (2011)
• Fighter (2012)
• Manafest Presents Stories Since Seventy Nine (EP, 2012)
• The Moment (2014)
• Reborn (2015)
• Stones (2017)
• This Is Not the End (2019)

He won nine GMA Canada Covenant Awards for categories including Modern Rock/Alternative Song of the Year, Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year, and Rap/Hip Hop Song of the Year.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Manafest-come-back-home-lyrics.

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1. What message does the song communicate?

Manafest experiences spiritual warfare, enticed by temptation and knee-deep in his mess caused by sin.  He wants to return to God and realizes his error, but feels like he must clean his life up before reentry.

In the Chorus, Manafest speaks for God.  Speaking for God is a very dangerous prospect which ought to handle with care. Old Testament prophets were killed for falsely speaking on God’s behalf. With that in mind, God tells Manafest to come home implying that self-cleanup is unnecessary.  He has everything Manafest could require.

Manafest prays to God for power to do God’s will, desiring to restore his relationship.  Which God? A God who wants Manafest to come back, not one that demands works to earn favor with God.  This is what sets Christianity apart from other worldviews.

Score: 10/10

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

The entire song is in alignment with God’s inspired Word.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-8: Manafest gave into temptation, affecting their prayer life.  This is his spiritual warfare (Matthew 4:1-11, Romans 7:14-25, Ephesians 6:12-17, and 2 Corinthians 10:3-5), where he missed the mark (Romans 3:23).

[Pre-Chorus]

Lines 1-6: Manafest is a prodigal, leaving his Heavenly Father to live for himself.  Realizing his error, he wishes to come back to God (Luke 15:11-19).

Lines 7 and 8: I appreciate Manafest’s honesty in that he feels like he must clean up his life before he came come back to God.  While this is unbiblical, I won’t deduct points because Chorus corrects it.

Line 9: See commentary on lines 1-6.

[Chorus]

Lines 1-4: God is speaking.  He hasn’t gone anywhere.  He’s right where Manafest left Him.  God did not move away from Manafest, but Manafest moved away from God.  God asks Manafest to come back to Him to receive rest from weariness (Matthew 11:28-30) and for Him to provide for Manafest’s needs (Genesis 2:15-16, Genesis 9:3, Genesis 22:8, Exodus 16:1-36, Psalm 18:2, Psalm 34:10, Psalm 81:10, Psalm 84:11, Psalm 107:9, Proverbs 10:3, Malachi 3:10, Matthew 6:25-30, Matthew 7:7-8, Matthew 21:22, John 14:13-14, John 14:26, John 15:1-10, John 15:16, Romans 8:32, Ephesians 3:20, Philippians 4:19, 2 Corinthians 9:8, and 2 Corinthians 12:9).  In this God, corrects Manafest, that he doesn’t need to clean himself up first.  Just come home.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1-8: See commentary on Verse 1, lines 1-8.

[Bridge]

Lines 1 and 2: A prayer offered to God for Him to change Manafest’s course from death in sin to life with God (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter 2:24).

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son is one of the most common parables that are taught in churches.  I can’t imagine that many unbelievers in the west would be unfamiliar with this message throughout this song, especially since Manafest uses common language.  Even if they are unfamiliar with this story, they should easily interpret this as Manafest left God and wants to come back.  That is their likely takeaway from these lyrics.

Score: 10/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God that Manafest desires to return to God.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Manafest’s Come Back Home is a fitting title for this wonderful song.  It is about Manafest’s wandering away from God and God’s calling Manafest back into a relationship with Him, bringing God glory.  Unbelievers will find this interpretation easy, regardless of their familiarity with Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son.

This song is inspirational, but not appropriate for corporate worship.

Score: 10/10

Artist Info

Track: Come Back Home (listen to the song)

Artist: Manafest (Feat. Trevor McNevan)

Album: This Is Not the End

Genre: Hip Hop/Rap

Release Year: 2019

Duration: 3:09

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Updates:

03/25/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.