1) The Choir were a ro… Read Full Bio ↴There have been two bands known as The Choir:
1) The Choir were a rock band in the mid-1960s from Cleveland Ohio, best known for the oft-covered song "It's Cold Outside". With the addition of singer Eric Carmen, they became The Raspberries in 1970. The band consisted of Dann Klawon on rhythm guitar, Dave Smalley on vocals & rhythm guitar, Wally Bryson on vocals, lead guitar, & bass, and Jim Bonfanti on vocals & drums.
2) The Choir (originally The Youth Choir) is an atmospheric alternative Christian rock band, led by Derri Daugherty on guitar and vocals, Steve Hindalong on drums -- who also writes most of the band's lyrics -- and Dan Michaels on lyricon, electric flute and saxophone. Originally formed in Southern California in the early 1980s, the band members moved to the Nashville, Tennessee area in the 1990s. Past members include guitarist Marc Byrd and bass guitarists Michael Sauerbrey, Robin Spurs, Bill Batstone, and the late Tim Chandler.
Each band member also has a depth of musical history outside of The Choir. Hindalong produced four successful City On A Hill albums, writing the well-known song "God of Wonders" with Marc Byrd. Daugherty has been a member of the Christian-alterna-pop-supergroup The Lost Dogs since it started in 1991, and Hindalong joined the group in 2006. Chandler was the bass player for years for Daniel Amos and that band's alter egos The Swirling Eddies, and passed away in 2018. Byrd was a member of Common Children, recorded with his wife Christine Glass as Glassbyrd, and is currently half of the post-rock duo Hammock. Michaels has been a Senior Vice President of Fair Trade Services (formerly INO Records) since 2000.
Tears Don't Fall
The Choir Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And strains to emphathize
He prays for hungry children
But tears don't fill his eyes
He hears men scream in darkness
And fears for their demise
He calls on God to save them
But tears don't fill his eyes
Tears don't fall, they don't fall down
He wants to be a soldier
But not enough to die
He loves the Man of Sorrows
But not enough to cry
Tears don't fall, they don't fall down
In the mirror I fear the man I see
And wonder how his heart grew cold
I lie awake at night and I curse this apathy
Where's the fire in this soul?
Tears don't fall, they don't fall down
The lyrics to The Choir's song Tears Don't Fall depict a man who appears to be full of passion and concern for others, but in reality, he is not emotionally invested enough to show true empathy. He claims to pray for hungry children and fears for the lives of men in darkness, but his lack of tears reveals that his concern is not deep enough to move him to tears. The repetition of the phrase "tears don't fall" emphasizes his emotional distance from the situations he claims to care about.
The second verse addresses the man's desire to be a soldier and his love for the "Man of Sorrows," likely a reference to Jesus. However, the line "but not enough to cry" suggests that even these strong feelings do not provoke a genuine emotional response in him. The chorus repeats the refrain that tears do not fall, further emphasizing that this man's lack of empathy is pervasive and cannot be overcome.
The final verse takes on a more personal tone, as the singer reflects on his own feelings of apathy and the coldness he sees in himself. He wonders why he can't seem to feel anything deeply, and laments the absence of passion in his soul. Overall, the lyrics suggest that genuine empathy and concern for others cannot be feigned or forced - they must come from a place of true emotional investment.
Line by Line Meaning
He feigns a heart of passion
He pretends to have strong feelings
And strains to empathize
But he struggles to understand and share the feelings of others
He prays for hungry children
He asks God to help children who are hungry
But tears don't fill his eyes
But he doesn't feel emotional enough to cry about it
He hears men scream in darkness
He listens to men screaming in fear or pain, hidden from the light
And fears for their demise
And he worries they will not survive or have a happy life
He calls on God to save them
He asks God to rescue them
But tears don't fill his eyes
But again, he cannot muster enough emotions to cry
He wants to be a soldier
He desires to join the military
But not enough to die
But only if he doesn't have to risk his own life
He loves the Man of Sorrows
He cares about and admires Jesus, who suffered deeply
But not enough to cry
But again, he is not emotionally invested enough to cry
In the mirror I fear the man I see
When he looks at himself in the mirror, he is afraid of who he has become
And wonder how his heart grew cold
He is curious about how he became less empathetic and less able to feel emotion
I lie awake at night and I curse this apathy
He gets angry at his own inability to feel for others and suffers from sleeplessness due to these thoughts
Where's the fire in this soul?
He questions why he doesn't have more passion and motivation for life
Tears don't fall, they don't fall down
Throughout all of this, he highlights that he cannot cry, despite feeling that something is wrong in his life
Contributed by Nicholas G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.