This song was inspired by Anthony J. Showalter and Elisha A. Hoffman's 1887 hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms." Showalter penned the classic spiritual tune after receiving letters from two of his former pupils saying that their wives had died. As the former teacher wrote letters of consolation, he was inspired by the phrase in the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy 33:27 - "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms."
The hymn features prominently in the scores of the movies Night of the Hunter and the 2010 version of True Grit.
Singer Ezra Koenig told NME: "I'd been obsessed with this 19th century American hymn 'Leaning on The Everlasting Arms', where they talk about how the stability the singer gets from their faith, but with our song there's a darker riff on the same idea - someone who's maybe in a bad place and yearning for that."
Vampire Weekend debuted the song live during their show at the Metro Theatre in Sydney on January 23, 2013.
See your Spotify stats (with number of plays and minutes listened) and discover new music.
Music data, artist images, album covers, and song previews are provided by Spotify. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB.