In this post, I will break down the lyrics of Red’s song “Faceless” and discuss how it talks about finding your identity in Christ.
Christian rock band Red was formed by identical twins Anthony (guitarist) and Randy (bassist) Armstrong, and vocalist Michael Barnes, who has been friends with Anthony and Randy ever since the three of them were in elementary school.
The band debuted in 2006 and has since released eight albums, including their album Rated R, which was released in September.
Photo of current members of Red retrieved from the band's website.
Red is known for incorporating string instruments into their songs, and they don’t shy away from talking about themes of suffering, inner conflict, and grief. They also tend to be more ambiguous with their lyrics compared to other Christian bands, which has resulted in them having a mix of Christian and non-Christian fans.
Their song “Faceless” is from their 2011 album Until We Have Faces. The album got its name from Till We Have Faces, a book by Christian author C.S. Lewis (the guy who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia books). We'll talk more about the book later.
Until We Have Faces focuses on the human struggle of finding our identity. “Faceless” especially highlights this struggle.
Here is the song, so make sure you give it a listen:
Now let’s get to the lyrics.
A voice screaming from within
Begging just to feel again
Can't find who I am without you near me
I'd give anything to live
Without you I don't exist
You’re the only one who saves me from myself
This song begins by talking to God during a time of inner crisis. Many of us have had a struggle with finding our identity (“Can’t find who I am”). Yet, God is the one who knows us and gives us purpose in our lives, which is shown in the lyrics, “Can’t find who I am without you near me” and “Without you I don’t exist.”
I abandoned this love and laid it to rest
And now I'm one of the forgotten
When we “abandon” and ignore God’s love for us, we feel like we’ve been “forgotten,” even though we aren’t.
I'm not, I'm not myself
Feel like I'm someone else
Fallen and faceless
So hollow, hollow inside
A part of me is dead
Need you to live again
Can you replace this
I'm hollow, hollow and faceless
The word “faceless” refers to feeling like we don’t know who we are. Without the unshakable identity that God gives us, we feel confused (“feel like I’m someone else”), failed (“fallen”), and empty inside (“hollow”). God is the only one who can give us a true sense of identity and purpose that isn’t short-lived or unfounded. And the song shows this by saying, “Need you to live again / Can you replace this?”
Shadows growing in my mind
Ones I just can't leave behind
I'm not strong enough to pay this ransom
One more monster crawled inside
But I swear I saw it die
Can you save me from the nothing I've become
All the insecurities, doubts, and fears that fill our minds are difficult to get rid of, like the shadows and monsters mentioned in this verse. Even when we are told that God loves us, our doubts and insecurities sometimes take over and tell us that we don’t matter and that we’re nothing. We can’t escape from these doubts and fears alone. In other words, we’re “not strong enough to pay this ransom” of our doubt-controlled minds. But, God can erase our doubts and insecurities if we hand them over to Him, like when the song says, “Can you save me from the nothing I’ve become?”
Until We Have Faces album cover retrieved from Red's website.
I abandoned this love and laid it to rest
And now I'm one of the forgotten
I'm not, I'm not myself
Feel like I'm someone else
Fallen and faceless
So hollow, hollow inside
A part of me is dead Need you to live again
Can you replace this
I'm hollow, hollow and faceless
When talking about how the album is inspired by Till We Have Faces, guitarist Anthony Armstrong said, “We didn’t necessarily write the whole record around this book. But there’s one little passage out of that book that talked about how as a human being, we can never accept or receive any sort of message from a divine being until we know who we are as a person.”
Likewise, it is harder for us to listen to God speaking to us and follow His will for us if we don’t place our identity in Him and see ourselves how He sees us.
We are the faceless
We are the nameless
We are the hopeless
Until we have faces
“Until we have faces,” or until we know who we are, we feel without an identity (faceless), without a sense of worth (nameless), and without any confidence for things to get better (hopeless). And the only one who can truthfully tell us who we are and give us a purpose that lasts forever is God.
I'm not, I'm not myself
Feel like I'm someone else
Fallen and faceless
So hollow, hollow inside
A part of me is dead
Need you to live again
Can you replace this
I'm hollow, hollow and faceless
But one question that still remains is what is our identity in God? How does He see us? Well, throughout the Bible, we are called “children of God” (John 1:12), “a chosen people” and “God’s special possession” (1 Peter 2:9), and made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27).
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” So, God sees us as His own children whom He loves, and our purpose is to glorify Him. This is our true identity. One that makes us no longer faceless.
Genius contributors. (n.d.). Red – Faceless. Genius. Retrieved November 21, 2023, from https://genius.com/Red-faceless-lyrics
NewRelease Today. (2006). A Red State Of Mind. Retrieved November 15, 2023, from https://www.newreleasetoday.com/article.php?article_id=22
Red Entertainment. (2023). HOME. RED. Retrieved November 21, 2023, from https://www.thebandred.com/
thebandred. (2011, March 9). Until we have faces: The story [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved November 21, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ci0ue1lj6s