Ordinary People
John Legend · Get Lifted
Honest about love's messiness, but quietly hopeful
What do these signals mean?
- Edifying: Points the heart toward God, truth, hope, or love.
- Worth Weighing: Real good and real concern together. Test it before you take it in.
- Take Caution: Leans toward what could dull or mislead. Approach carefully.
- Consider Avoiding: Celebrates what Scripture warns against. Little here builds up.
Weighed against Scripture
“Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”
Love that bears all things, believes all things, and endures all things is exactly what the song is reaching for, even without naming it.
“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.”
The righteous fall and rise again. The song's 'we rise and we fall' and the choice to keep going reflects that same realistic, non-romantic courage.
“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”
Two are better than one because when one falls the other helps. The song is an argument for exactly that kind of stubborn, mutual staying.
This is a song about two imperfect people choosing to stay and grow rather than chasing a fairy-tale version of love. It admits fault on both sides, acknowledges real uncertainty, and still lands on patience and commitment. There is no spiritual vocabulary here, but the values underneath, humility, honesty, perseverance, are ones Scripture holds in high regard. The main thing to weigh is whether the song's unresolved uncertainty ('maybe we'll crash and burn') leaves you unsettled or simply honest.
No profanity or explicit content. The language is candid and relatable, describing the friction and uncertainty of a real relationship.
No God-language, but the song resists fantasy and chooses commitment anyway. That honest, humble posture carries a quiet moral weight.
Legend is clearly writing toward truthfulness rather than glamorizing dysfunction. The song dignifies the slow, unglamorous work of staying.
When you listen to this song, does it make commitment feel more real and worth it, or does the uncertainty in it leave you more resigned than hopeful?