Isobel Campbell is the former cellist and backing vocalist for Belle & Seba… Read Full Bio ↴Isobel Campbell is the former cellist and backing vocalist for Belle & Sebastian, as well as leader of The Gentle Waves. Mark Lanegan (1964 - 2022) used to be the frontman of the Seattle grunge band The Screaming Trees and subsequently played with Queens of the Stone Age, and formed (together with Greg Dulli) The Gutter Twins. Lanegan also released solo albums.

Together, Campbell and Lanegan formed a unique combination of gruff vocals and dulcet voices. They released a series of albums: Ballad of the Broken Seas, which received a nomination in the 2006 Mercury Awards, Sunday at Devil Dirt, which was released in May 2008. The album received US release in Fall 2008. Their third album Hawk was released in August 2010. The same year the live album "Live At The Barbican London 2010 " was released.

Something To Believe
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

There's a mocking bird
Singing in the tree
Outside my window
Looking down on me
Give me a reason
Something to believe
Another season
I will sit and grieve

That bad old sun
Forever shining on
The world keeps turning
Though my hope is gone
I close my eyes
And when the day is done
I hang my head
And dream about no one

Show me direction
And I'm good to go
I'm trying hard
Always fall so low
And when I fall
There'll be another star
I'm chasing my tail
Always running

Oh it is so hard
With the answers I find
Weary of heart
Weary soul
Weak of mind
Oh it is so hard

Now you heard my song
Will you turn and go
Give me a reason
And I'll say it's so
If you stand by me
I could never leave

You'd be the reason
Something to believe

Something to believe

Something to believe
Something to believe

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan's "Something to Believe in" are about seeking hope in a world that seems bleak and uncertain. The opening lines describe a mockingbird singing outside the singer's window, and the line "Give me a reason, something to believe" is repeated throughout the song, conveying a sense of hopelessness and desperation. The chorus suggests that if someone were to stand by the singer, they could find a reason to believe and continue on.

The verse about the sun and the world turning also gives a sense of the relentless passage of time, even when hope is lost. The bridge of the song is both introspective and determined, as the singer talks about trying to find direction and always falling short, but still continuing forward. The song ends with a repeated chorus, with the added line of "something to believe" becoming almost a mantra.

Overall, "Something to Believe in" is a powerful anthem about the importance of hope and the need for human connection. It speaks to the universal human experience of feeling lost and uncertain, but also highlights the potential for redemption and the possibility of finding meaning in our lives.

Line by Line Meaning

There's a mocking bird
There is a bird singing in the tree

Singing in the tree
The bird is singing in the tree

Outside my window
The bird is outside the singer's window

Looking down on me
The bird is looking down at the singer

Give me a reason
The singer is asking for a reason

Something to believe
The singer is asking for something to believe in

Another season
Another time will come

I will sit and grieve
The singer will sit and be sad

That bad old sun
The sun is always shining

Forever shining on
The sun is always shining

The world keeps turning
The world keeps spinning