1) The Drums are an American indie pop band from Brooklyn, NY. Jonny Pierc… Read Full Bio ↴1) The Drums are an American indie pop band from Brooklyn, NY. Jonny Pierce and Jacob Graham met at summer camp when they were children and have been best friends ever since. Soon after their initial meeting, they formed Goat Explosion and toured extensively in North America during their teenage years. Around 2003, Pierce and Adam Kessler formed Elkland. In the meantime, Graham formed a band called Horse Shoes (Shelflife Records). Pierce ultimately decided to take a few years off from writing music after becoming disillusioned with the music business and parted ways with Elkland in 2005.

The Drums were formed in late 2006. Relocating to New York, The Drums added former Elkland guitarist Adam Kessler on second guitar and NYC born drummer Connor Hanwick (formerly of lo-fi teen pop duo Cape of No Hope) to the line up and set up a month long residency at a small club on the lower east side of Manhattan. They released their debut single Let's Go Surfing on on 15 September 2009, which the Let's Go Surfing Songfacts reports was inspired by Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election.

In September 2010, guitarist Adam Kessler left the band, Followed by Connor Hanwick in 2012 and Jacob Graham in 2016.
Jonny Pierce is the only remaining member.

2) The Drums is an American experimental band from San Francisco featuring John Dwyer (of Coachwhips, Pink & Brown, Thee Oh Sees) on drums and Anthony Petrovic (Ezee Tiger, Gay Barbarians) on drums.

Face of God
The Drums Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Kiss the hand of Satan when I kiss you
Feel his cold breath on my neck when I'm near you
His eyes on my eyes tonight

I saw the face of god
He showed me how to live
I threw it back at him
I threw it back at him

I saw the face of god
He showed me how to live
I threw it back at him
I threw it back at him

Inside the mountain
You are gentle
You are gentle
His eyes are rowing on me
Always lookin'

I saw the face of god
He showed me how to live
I threw it back at him
I threw it back at him

I saw the face of god
He showed me how to live

I threw it back at him
I threw it back at him

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to The Drums's song "Face of God" are open to interpretation, but they seem to depict a dark and conflicted relationship. The opening lines, "Kiss the hand of Satan when I kiss you / Feel his cold breath on my neck when I'm near you," suggest a dangerous and possibly even abusive connection between the singer and the person they are addressing. The reference to Satan implies that this person is somehow evil or corrupt, and the fact that the singer is willing to kiss his hand suggests that they are subservient or deeply entwined with this darkness.

However, the chorus introduces a more hopeful theme, with the singer describing seeing "the face of god" and feeling as though he has shown them "how to live." It's unclear whether this is a literal experience or a more metaphorical way of expressing some kind of revelation or personal growth, but the fact that the singer "threw it back at him" suggests that they are rejecting this newfound wisdom or enlightenment.

Line by Line Meaning

Kiss the hand of Satan when I kiss you
I am submitting to evil when I am with you

Feel his cold breath on my neck when I'm near you
Being near you makes me feel like I'm in the presence of something dark and cold

His eyes on my eyes tonight
I feel like I'm being watched by something sinister when I look into your eyes

I saw the face of god
I had a profound experience that felt spiritual in nature

He showed me how to live
The experience showed me a new way of approaching life

I threw it back at him
I rejected the message or meaning of the experience

Inside the mountain
In a place that feels isolated, remote, and inaccessible

You are gentle
Despite the harshness of the environment, you still have a softness to you

His eyes are rowing on me
I feel like I'm being scrutinized and judged

Always lookin'
The sense of being watched and judged is a constant presence

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JONATHAN ANDREW PIERCE

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

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01Magic Mountain4:05

02I Can't Pretend4:49

03I Hope Time Doesn't Change Him4:43

PT4M1S

08U.S. National Park3:11

09Deep in My Heart3:50

10Bell Laboratories2:45

11There Is Nothing Left4:14

12Wild Geese5:15

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Comments from YouTube:

Nadia Soto

7y↑16

I just got into this band and it sucks because I wish that I would've known them more sooner like when they first started out. 😫 but I've been listening to them for about a month and I just saw them live! It was great! I love this band so much and I hope to continue loving this band 💞💞 much love to Jonny and the band and what they put into it!

Evelina

3y↑1

do you still love them

vision94 _

5y↑13

Almost 2019 & this is still a VIBE !!! Definitely one of my FAVORITES

creamy piss

2y↑1

2022😩‼️

Sergio Alejandro Calderón Méndez

2021 😖✋

indiesongaday

10y↑32

favorite song on the new album

goth pixie

2y↑1

obgd por existir ❤

Exscarlet Maldonado

10y↑9

This song is awesome. It is so good live to. I loved seeing them live!!!!

Asir De la torre

4y↑4

Always my favorite group 🖤

miiiiii

mind listening to this amazing hidden gem --- faceless humming by the impures

is underrated as heck a good song like this one

listen to it :)))vv

Evey Hernandez

10y↑7

One of my favorites

MrCharlyie

8y↑5

This song is so Arcadefireistic. Love it.

miiiiii

mind listening to this amazing hidden gem --- faceless humming by the impures

is underrated as heck a good song like this one

listen to it :))) c c

DKP World

3y↑1

Love love your music so goood

Cristiano Candido

9y↑3

Great sound

W I L L I A M

4y↑7

"I saw the face of good"

miiiiii

mind listening to this amazing hidden gem --- faceless humming by the impures

is underrated as heck a good song like this one

listen to it :)))

yrureadingthisname

9y↑3

Yes! Reminds me of the B-52's, Wild Party era.

goth pixie

2y↑1

essa é do crlh

Paula Villalvazo

8y↑5

i went to go see the drums live 2015

miiiiii

mind listening to this amazing hidden gem --- faceless humming by the impures

is underrated as heck a good song like this one

listen to it :)))vvv

Sierra Keen

8y↑1

+Abigail villalvazo lucky af

jystrsx

10y↑2

😍

Tyler Dunbar

8y↑4

Its between this song and magic mountain for my favorite Encyclopedia song

miiiiii

mind listening to this amazing hidden gem --- faceless humming by the impures

is underrated as heck a good song like this one

listen to it :))) vv

Emanuel Cortes

2y↑2

Oh this shit hard hard

SAMIRA

9y↑3

♥

miiiiii

mind listening to this amazing hidden gem --- faceless humming by the impures

is underrated as heck a good song like this one

listen to it :)))vvv

minibear89

10y↑3

♡

Gaara Ledezma

6y↑1

so cute instrumental!!

miiiiii

mind listening to this amazing hidden gem --- faceless humming by the impures

is underrated as heck a good song like this one

listen to it :)))

Thirdwave SEO Service

10y↑6

Satan??
hmmmmmmmmmm, not sure if I should love this as much as I do, but I cant help it! haha

Bam Bam

5y↑2

Hail satan

christian haynes

7y↑1

I've been following this band since the very beginning, so I'd like to say that I understand everything they've put out but I'm not them. I'm simply just interpreting things they've said.

christian haynes

I'm not at all sure that's what it meant to him, he has stated countlessly that he has lost all ties to his parents and that religion, and he's completely advocating an atheist ideology. He's also stated exactly what I said, I mean, keep in mind, I did paraphrase what he said but it was clear that's what he meant.

Sekhmet's Rag

7y↑1

christian haynes I think is important to understand his religious background when deciphering the meaning of this song. He grew up in the church, so I think he uses God/Satan as more than just a tool to convey religion and it's rejection of his sexuality. I think it has more meaning than just that to him.

christian haynes

7y↑16

This song is entirely about how he views Christianity demonizing his homosexuality, and how he rejects religion because it rejects his sexuality. When he says, "I saw the face of god he showed me how to live
I threw it back at him". He's not implying that either God or Satan exist, but using them as a platform to speak against religion. When he refers to Satan in the beginning of the song he isn't saying that he exists, but that he exists only to belittle his sexuality. "Kiss the hand of Satan when I kiss you" what he means by that is when he kisses his boyfriend he is sinning. The singer, (Johnny) has said this a couple of times. A lot of songs on this record are references to him being a gay man.

1 More Replies...

Juarez Robledo Gabriel

5y↑5

2019❤️

miiiiii

mind listening to this amazing hidden gem --- faceless humming by the impures

is underrated as heck a good song like this one

listen to it :)))

MysticFellow

reminds me a little bit of coldplay talk

miiiiii

mind listening to this amazing hidden gem --- faceless humming by the impures

is underrated as heck a good song like this one

listen to it :)))vcv

Gabriel Kröger

change your drumhead buddy

miiiiii

mind listening to this amazing hidden gem --- faceless humming by the impures

is underrated as heck a good song like this one

listen to it :)))vvv

nightcr_wler

9y↑4

Why does every single song have a reference to disbelief? I find it annoying

cereal lettuce

4y↑2

artists can sing about what they want doe

Sekhmet's Rag

7y↑9

Andres Fontan I think it's immature to write off someone's deep, traumatic experiences as "immature". I believe in God, but I'm also an intellect, meaning I can listen to this song and use my own experiences/struggles within the church to sympathize with his perspective. Church is a pretty big part of people's lives when they practice a religion, so it's understandable and reasonable that he's still angry about it. Something like this, isn't easy to "just move on" from. Church culture can cut deep, and Johnny is still relatively young- the wounds haven't healed, they may never.

sachiel

8y↑4

if you listen to the spotify commentary that johnny does for the album, he tells you the source of inspiration and history of each song to give you a better understanding of the mood.

Esteban Israel Arredondo

+Fëanor Snow yeah, the line "I threw it back at him" is just very uncreative and very inmature, as i said before. it's like he is traumatized and he wants to personally attack someone who may be a believer idk but this is not clearly about losing faith like that guy finbae said above

cobeatle

9y↑4

@Andres Fontan i said to list some besides this song and Book of Revelation

4 More Replies...

FISTSxOFxFURY

5y↑2

Lyrical meaning isn't cool, beat and melody is catchy

Bam Bam

FISTSxOFxFURY 🤣🖕🏼

Guess Who

8y↑6

Kiss the hand of Satan when I kiss you
Feel his cold breath on my neck when I’m near you
His eyes on my eyes tonight

I saw the face of god
He showed me how to live