Ya Hey
Produced by
Ya Hey Lyrics
Oh, sweet thing
Zion doesn't love You
And Babylon don't love You
But You love everything
Oh, You saint
America don't love You
So I could never love You
In spite of everything
[Pre-Chorus]
In the dark of this place
There's the glow of Your face
There's the dust on the screen
Of this broken machine
And I can't help but feel
That I've made some mistake
But I let it go
Ya Hey, Ya Hey, Ya Hey
[Chorus]
Through the fire and through the flames
(Ya Hey, Ya Hey)
(Ut Deo, Ya Hey)
(Ut Deo, Deo)
You won't even say Your name
(Ya Hey, Ya Hey)
(Ut Deo, Ya Hey)
(Ut Deo, Deo)
Through the fire and through the flames
You won't even say Your name
Only "I am that I am"
But who could ever live that way?
(Ya Hey, Ya Hey)
Ut Deo, Ya Hey
Ut Deo, Deo
Oh, the motherland don't love You
The fatherland don't love You
So why love anything?
Oh, good God
The faithless, they don't love You
The zealous hearts don't love You
And that's not gonna change
[Pre-Chorus]
All the cameras and files
All the paranoid styles
All the tension and fear
Of a secret career
And I can't help but feel
That You seen the mistakes
But You let it go
Ya Hey, Ya Hey, Ya Hey
[Chorus]
Through the fire and through the flames
(Ya Hey, Ya Hey)
(Ut Deo, Ya Hey)
(Ut Deo, Deo)
You won't even say Your name
(Ya Hey, Ya Hey)
(Ut Deo, Ya Hey)
(Ut Deo, Deo)
Through the fire and through the flames
You won't even say Your name
You say, "I am that I am"
But who could ever live that way?
(Ya Hey, Ya Hey)
Ut Deo, Ya Hey
Ut Deo, Deo
Outside the tents
On the festival grounds
As the air began to cool
And the sun went down
My soul swooned
As I faintly heard the sound
Of You spinning "Israelites"
Into "19th Nervous Breakdown"
[Chorus]
Through the fire and through the flames
(Ya Hey, Ya Hey)
(Ut Deo, Ya Hey)
(Ut Deo, Deo)
You won't even say Your name
(Ya Hey, Ya Hey)
(Ut Deo, Ya Hey)
(Ut Deo, Deo)
Through the fire and through the flames
You won't even say Your name
Only "I am what I am"
But who could ever live that way?
(Ya Hey, Ya Hey)
Ut Deo, Ya Hey
Ut Deo, Deo
Through the fire and through the flames
You won't even say Your name
Only "I am that I am"
But who could ever live that way?
(Ya Hey, Ya Hey)
Ut Deo, Ya Hey
Ut Deo, Deo
About
“Ya Hey” has a distinct religious tone. The searcher narrative may allude to some personal testimonies from the band members on the press junket promoting this album. After the Contra tour, Ezra Koenig tried screenwriting and life in LA, Chris Tomson “shoveling shit” on a cattle farm in Montana, Chris Baio tried DJing and young marriage, and Rostam Batmanglij toured India and wrote movie soundtracks.
This “almost existential” crisis of the band is explored in a profile in The Guardian and another long thing in Pitchfork.
As it happens, Rostam Batmanglij wrote the song, but for the purposes of lyric interpretation we will hold Ezra’s name as stand-in for narrator. (While Ezra and Rostam wrote the music together, the lyrics are almost exclusively attributed solely to Ezra Koenig.)
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 2.Unbelievers
- 3.Step
- 4.Diane Young
- 5.Don’t Lie
- 6.Hannah Hunt
- 8.Finger Back
- 9.Worship You
- 10.Ya Hey
- 11.Hudson
- 12.Young Lion