Song Review: I Need You, I Love You, I Want You by Tenth Avenue North

   I've been listening to some music lately. Mostly the Les Miserables soundtrack, but also some Tenth Avenue North. One song in particular has been stuck in my head. Which one? (Hint: it's the title of this music review.)
   The lyrics themselves are pretty simple: it's mostly 'I need you, I love you, I want you' over and over again, with a few others thrown in for good measure. The other words help add to the idea of the song, but those three base phrases are really interesting. I think they show an interesting progression of how people react to God.
    First, there's the phrase 'I need you'. We need God. Some people recognize this and some don't, but in some place I think all people have an inner longing for God. Some call it the God impulse, some call it the God gene, what have you. People fill this longing in different ways. However, as a Christian, I think this impulse reveals an innate need for God. Therefore, before all else, people need God and are crying out for him as they search for a filling for this void in their lives.
   Secondly, there's the 'I love you' phrase. This is interesting, because I at first thought that this should finish out the three. Need is among all, but only once people recognize their need can they move on to the want stage. They want God of their own accord, not just to fill up the gap in their lives. Then, after they want him, they can love him. However, while the song could have been written that way, it wasn't. Instead, love comes before wanting (if you want to read this as a progression from needing to loving to wanting). I think this is because people can love others without actually wanting them. Love is a choice to do what is best for others, hence how we can love our enemies without actually liking them. However, wanting and loving are not the same. Love is doing what is best for the other person, and wanting is not meant to be in a carnal sense. Therefore, humans are to love God and yet want him. They are to be in a relationship with him and want him.
   This last point is one which I often forget. I know I need God, I love him (at least, I think I do), but do I really want God? Do I want him for who he is, not just for what I can get out of it? This is where love and want kind of cross over each other, because loving God would want what's best for him and that would be having a relationship with him. God wants us, in a sense he needs us for he created us to have a relationship with him, and God loves us. The question is do we do likewise with him?
   Finally, to round out the chorus are the words 'No one else can make me new'. I'm broken, I need God, and he can make me new. I need him, I love him, I want him, for no one else can make me new.
   I could say more, but that's enough for now. Do you have any thoughts about this song or any other Tenth Avenue North songs? I'd love to hear them! Comment below and tell me what you think about the songs or about my thoughts.