Shake The Walls

Album: Bloodlines (2018)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is about the Lewis Awakening, a spiritual movement on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland, where Colin Macleod is from. The Awakening was led by the preacher Duncan Campbell in 1949, and is legend in the area. In a Songfacts track by track, Macleod explained:

    "There was a house in Arnol where they were having a prayer meeting one night - they called it a 'movement of God.' There was a spiritual revival going on and lots of people coming to faith - there were lots of things happening.

    In this area there wasn't anything happening, and this old man was praying and issuing an ultimatum to God, saying, 'If you're really there then make the walls of this house shake.' And as he said it, as the story goes, the house began to shake and he was put in his place.

    The song goes from his perspective, not of the scenario at the time but more of his feeling of being small in that position, and how you would react to something like that."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

The 10 Bands Most Like Spinal Tap

The 10 Bands Most Like Spinal TapSong Writing

Based on criteria like girlfriend tension, stage mishaps and drummer turnover, these are the 10 bands most like Spinal Tap.

Michael Sweet of Stryper

Michael Sweet of StryperSongwriter Interviews

Find out how God and glam metal go together from the Stryper frontman.

Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

Butch Vig

Butch VigSongwriter Interviews

The Garbage drummer/songwriter produced the Nirvana album Nevermind, and Smashing Pumpkins' Gish and Siamese Dream.

Rob Halford of Judas Priest

Rob Halford of Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford dives into some of his Judas Priest lyrics, talking about his most personal songs and the message behind "You've Got Another Thing Comin'."

Tom Keifer of Cinderella

Tom Keifer of CinderellaSongwriter Interviews

Tom talks about the evolution of Cinderella's songs through their first three albums, and how he writes as a solo artist.