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What if I Stumble?DC Talk

Is this one for the people?Is this one for the LordOr do I simply serenadeThe things I must afford?

You can jumble them togetherA conflict still remains.

Holiness is callingIn the midst of courting fame.

‘Cause I see the trust in their eyesThough the sky is falling.

They need your love in their lives.Compromise is calling.

What if I stumble?What if I fall?

What if I lose my stepAnd I make fools of us all?

Will the love continueWhen my walk becomes a crawl?

What if I stumbleand what if I fall?


You never turn in the heat of it allWhat if I stumble?

What if I fall?

Father, please forgive meFor I cannot compose

The fear that lives within meOr the rate at which it grows.

In the struggle lies a purposeOn the narrow road you’ve carved

Or do I dread my trespassesWill leave a deadly scar?

Do they see the fear in my eyes?Are they so revealing?

This time I cannot disguiseAll the doubt I’m feeling.




What if I stumble?And what if I fall?

What if I stumble?

Everyone’s got to crawlWhen you know that

You’re up against the wallEverything’s about to fallEveryone’s got to crawlWhen you know that.

I hear you whispering my name.You said,

“My love for you will never change”Never change



Will the love continueWhen my walk becomes a

crawl?What if I stumble

And what if I...

What if I stumble?And what if I fall?






What if I fall?

You are my comfortAnd my God.

Is this one for the people?Is this one for the Lord?

Behind the Title

•“What if I stumble” addresses a question that apparently bothered the band at some point.

•As a Christian band, they are role models for their fans.

•What happens (from a spiritual point of view) if they sin and present a bad example to their fans in some instance?

Pre-Song

•This is not in some versions, but it lays the foundation for the song. This is a pastor who talked to the members of the band. This passage addresses the fear at the heart of the song.

The Rest of the Song...Is concerned with figuring

this out,both concerning the

members of the band and everyone else.

Eventually, they remember thatGod’s love doesn’t change. In other words,

God won’t hate someone whenhe or she messes up.

Walking through Stumbling

Is this one for the people?Is this one for the Lord

Or do I simply serenadeThe things I must afford?

This first stanzas address the motives for their actions: for

God or fame?“The things I must afford”

Are the thingsThat conventional society

Tells them they should afford, bothmonetarily and permissibly.

You can jumble them togetherA conflict still remains.

Holiness is callingIn the midst of courting fame.

‘Cause I see the trust in their eyesThough the sky is falling.

They need your love in their lives.Compromise is calling.

“The trust” is in the band members,who attempt to put the attention of

the fans back on God and notkeep it on themselves.





What if I fall?

The main literary device in theRefrain, other than repitition,

is the phrasing of “You never turnin the heat of it all” as a statement.

It is meant as a question, a “what if”.“What if I fall down and you don’t notice

so I just stay there and can’t get up?”The repitition throughout the song sounds

and acts like a nagging fear.



Father, please forgive meFor I cannot compose

The fear that lives within meOr the rate at which it grows.

In the struggle lies a purposeOn the narrow road you’ve carved

Or do I dread my trespassesWill leave a deadly scar?

Here they address their

fear, asking for forgiveness for

doubt.This is the first step to

resolution,accepting that their struggles

are afact of life.

The second two lines are repetition,

more clearly than the refrain,of their fear of permanent

failure.

Do they see the fear in my eyes?Are they so revealing?

This time I cannot disguiseAll the doubt I’m feeling.

This stanza hearkens back to the theme of the previous stanza where it is the audience’s eyes that the band is reading. Now the tables are switched, and the band remembers that they are just like the crowd, and read just as easily. The last two lines are an admission of their humanity. Even though they are famous, the

members of DC Talk are human, and doubt like all humans. Alternatively, this could be seen as a variation of the doubt theme. The band doubts that they can hide their problems so they won’t cause their fans, who probably look up to them, to have problems

in turn.

Everyone’s got to crawlWhen you know that

You’re up against the wallEverything’s about to fallEveryone’s got to crawlWhen you know that.

After the refrain, we have the most interesting part of the song. This part takes the song and moves it into the realm of

synecdoche. The band’s responsibilities have been the issue, but now the focus shifts to the bigger question of “What happens when we all stumble?” “Up against the wall” represents the times when one must either do right or do wrong. The choice can be difficult,

but one must go on anyway (Thus “crawl”, not “fall”. Both are difficult to go through, but one is still moving while crawling).

“Everything’s about to fall” brings in the situations when the choice of what to do has many things depending on it.

I hear you whispering my name.You said,

“My love for you will never change”Never change

RESOLUTION!!! Hurrah!

They come to the conclusion that, if theydo “stumble”, they will be able to keep on with life.




What if I stumbleAnd what if I...



What if I fall?

What? We have a reprieve here.Just like doubts that keep coming backeven after the answer is discovered.

Fortunately......

They can remind themselves

You are my comfortAnd my God.

and move on

Is this one for the people?Is this one for the Lord?

Which they do, ending the song in the samemanner in which it started. They continue to

question their motives, but this is how it should be.Dealing with sin is a constant factor in Christian life.This time, however, they go in with a little more faith

after a beautifully written exploration of doubt.

Bibliography for Pictures - In Order of

Appearance•http://www.kazaa.com/#!/dc-Talk/

Jesus-Freak/What-If-I-Stumble-%28Jesus-Freak-Album-Version%29

•http://myhregroup.com/portfolio_idetail.php?ctgry_id=6

•http://www.ilcoccodimamma.com/ind_product.php?id=64&type=toys&lang=all

•http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-things-you-didnt-know-about-your-eyes.php

http://www.kazaa.com/%23

http://myhregroup.com/portfolio_idetail.php?ctgry_id=6

http://myhregroup.com/portfolio_idetail.php?ctgry_id=6

http://www.ilcoccodimamma.com/ind_product.php?id=64&type=toys&lang=all



http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-things-you-didnt-know-about-your-eyes.php



•http://blogs.iscom.org/howtobecool/2011/04/04/how-to-be-cool-when-you-fall-down-the-stairs/ (Same for later appearances of this picture).

•http://baynature.org/articles/oct-dec-2006/accessible-outdoors/got-wheels

•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eye_iris.jpg

•http://www.public-domain-image.com/textures-and-patterns-public-domain-images-pictures/wall-texture-public-domain-images-pictures/brick-wall-texture-pictures/brown-brick-wall.jpg.html

•http://www.news-gazette.com/multimedia/photogallery/2011-05-12/boys-big-12-track-conference-2011

•http://www.mowingfool.com/