What does Soldier, Poet, King mean?

The Oh Hellos: Soldier, Poet, King Meaning

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Album cover for Soldier, Poet, King album cover

Soldier, Poet, King Lyrics

There will come a soldier
Who carries a mighty sword
He will tear your city down, o lei o lai o lord
O lei, o lai, o lei, o lord
He will tear your city down, o lei o lai o lord

There will come a poet
Whose weapon is his word
He will slay...

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  1. anonymous
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     May 11th 2021 !⃝

    I think it's about Jesus, and the hopes the people had as he came. So Jesus should be their "Soldier and Poet". The "King, or Ruler", is also about him, but after he was killed. "His brow is laid in thorn", is also a reference to the crown made out of thorns.

    (Sorry for my English I'm german :D)

  2. anonymous
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     Mar 30th 2021 !⃝

    This is a wild on but to take a city you need sorldiers to tear it down then you need someone like a poet to show the people their rulers were wrong then you need a knew ruler to keep the peace and insure the city prospers

  3. celestigull
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     Mar 25th 2021 !⃝

    The song is addressed to the devil, and is about the coming of Jesus Christ into the world under the titles of Soldier, Poet, and King.
    Christ is a soldier, as He is the combater of and victor over Satan's dominion over humanity, "your city", that is, sin, death, and evil. "He carries a mighty sword", which is figurative of His dying for and redeeming humanity as God and man.
    He is described as a Poet, as He whose Word slays Satan and sin in hearts. This is in reference to Hebrews 4:12 - "the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
    He is a King, since He was crowned with thorns in His Passion, taking upon Himself the punishment due to humanity for their sin out of love for them, thus winning over the hearts of men to be their King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 17:14). He is "smeared with oil like David's boy", as the Christ, the son of David, is the Anointed of God, and is the Savior of the human race.

  4. anonymous
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     Feb 19th 2021 !⃝

    Its been pretty funny for me to read that this song was intended to have such strong religious undertones because when I first heard it I thought it was a massive euphemism (which isn't uncommon in folk music)!

    I won't go into details to spare blushes but if you listen to the first two verses it doesn't take too much imagination to hear what I heard.

  5. anonymous
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     Feb 17th 2021 !⃝

    The sword is equivalent to the word. In Ephesians it says “the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.” It’s also we’ll known that He is the king of kings and wore a crown of thorns. So, Jesus is the soldier, poet, and king.

  6. anonymous
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     Jan 27th 2021 !⃝

    The song has to do with the future coming of Jesus.He is the solider, the Post, and the King. It's in revelation 19. Jesus will come on a white horse carrying a mighty sword and will tear down the nations. He is also the King of Kings.

  7. anonymous
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     Dec 10th 2020 !⃝

    I feel like allongnwith the biblical references and interpretations in the other comments, this song might be about the three different figureheads that God sent to Israel. First, the soldier might refer to Moses, Joshua and the judges. They were the early leaders of israel and they, specifically Joshua and the judges (Gideon, Deborah, Samson), led battles against the israelite’s neighbours to defend their homeland. The poet refers to the prophets, since they were the ones sent by God to counsel the king/s of israel and its people, and some even most of the times they stood against the corruption and sinfulness of the kings by lecturing them. And of course, the ruler represents Jesus, as many, many people pointed out

  8. anonymous
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     Nov 18th 2020 !⃝

    i belive that the song is in middle ages and is refering to religion opression and close/open mindednes. the soldier being a person who shames others with diferent religion views and fights to change others, although it might even be one who is involded with a relgion that is opressed, such as witchcraft or other religions that are shamed and opressed. the poest being a generic poet but a mighty protester fightin for equal rights or something like that for all relegions,"he will slay you with his tounge) he will hit you with a hard truth about relgion opression.
    next, the king who dosent really have power(?) or an opinion or (you know what i mean about the king). this is my opinion on the lovely song!

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  9. anonymous
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     Sep 8th 2020 !⃝

    They have confirmed that this song is about the second coming of Christ based on the writings of CS Lewis, makes me like the song a little less lol

  10. anonymous
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     Sep 4th 2020 !⃝

    As another commenter mentioned, the song is about abuse, but I think the titular soldier, poet, and king represent three methods of abuse. Specifically, I think this song was intended as a sort of twisted fable to warn listeners about the roles of an abuser, similar to the tale of Little Red Riding Hood.

    The soldier is physical abuse, and the "city" is the victim's body. The sword is a traditional symbol of aggression and willingness to engage in physical violence.

    The poet is verbal abuse, and "slay you with his tongue" refers to breaking the victim down verbally.

    The king/ruler is the least obvious one: psychological abuse. With the allusions to Biblical rulers (brow laid in thorn, smeared in oil, David's boy), this abuser may have an inflated ego or narcissistic disorder, viewing himself as a grand, important person with extreme power over the victim.

  11. anonymous
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     Jul 24th 2020 !⃝

    When I first saw the song, my mind immediately went to the interpretation of the three fire signs in the Greek zodiac; Aries, the solider, Sagittarius, the poet, and Leo, the King.

  12. anonymous
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     Jul 9th 2020 !⃝

    Each paragraph describes a form of abuse, or oppression: the first, represented by the mighty soldier, resembles a military oppression; the second, represented by the poet, a cultural oppression; the third and last one is the trickiest one, because it is clearly represented by Jesus, but its described as a "ruler" not a "savior" so I think it's like this to symbolize a religious oppression. That's my take!

  13. anonymous
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     May 28th 2020 !⃝

    The Soldier is Joshua from the Bible
    The Poet is David
    THE KING IS JESUS!
    You have to read the Bible to get it instead of getting full info from websites. So you wouldn't ask questions like, "WHY IS HE GONNA TEAR OUR CITY DOWN?!" or something.

  14. anonymous
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     Mar 17th 2020 !⃝

    I think it refers to the trinity the soldier is Jesus who worked between people, the poet is the holy spirit who whispers in your ear and the king is God who looks after us.

  15. anonymous
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     Jan 28th 2020 !⃝

    It is assumed that the soldier is joshua, who destroyed Jericho.
    The poet is king David, the person who wrote the psalms.
    The king is Jesus.

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