We all know Survivor from their iconic hit “Eye of the Tiger.” But their 1982 album of the same name (an album that I used to spin on the turntable back in the day) also includes another really interesting track, especially from a theological point of view. The ballad “Ever Since the World Began” was written by Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan, about a friend facing a terminal cancer diagnosis. And the song explores some interesting terrain: the course of our life is planned by the hand of destiny; everything fits together into a puzzle and plan but we can’t understand how we fit now; however, through it all, love sustains us on the journey as we retain the flame of hope for the future.
Whoa, deep themes, indeed. “Ever Since the World Began” is, in essence, a theodicy with hints of pastoral theology sung to a 1980s ballad.
* * *
I’ll never know what brought me here,
As if somebody led my hand,
It seems I hardly had to steer,
My course was planned.
And destiny it guides us all,
And by its hand, we rise and fall,
But only for a moment,
Time enough to catch our breath again.
And we’re just another piece of the puzzle,
Just another part of the plan,
How one life touches the other,
Is so hard to understand.
Still, we walk this road together,
We travel through as far as we can,
And we have waited for this moment in time,
Ever since the world began.
Taking in the times gone by,
We wonder how it all began,
We’ll never know and still we
Try to understand.
And even though the seasons change,
The reasons shall remain the same,
It’s love that keeps us holding on
Till we can see the sun again.
And we’re just another piece of the puzzle,
Just another part of the plan,
And we have waited for this moment in time,
Ever since the world began.
And I stand alone, a man of stone,
Against the driving rain,
And the night it’s got your number,
And the wind it cries your name,
If we search for truth, win or lose,
In this, we’re all the same,
The hope still burns eternal,
We’re the keeper of the flame.
And we’re just another piece of the puzzle,
Just another part of the plan,
How one life touches the other,
Is so hard to understand.
Still, we walk this road together,
We try and go as far as we can,
And we have waited for this moment in time,
Ever since the world began.
