ON THE CLOUDY SIDE= From a pessimistic point of view.

TREADMILL= A mechanism rotated by people treading on the moving steps of a wheel. It is used in fitness centres to run on it (see picture). But it is also the kind of trap we often see on TV, when a mouse in a laboratory is running inside a circular treadmill (see picture) So the metaphor is that you run and run but get nowhere, it's pointless.

WHEN IT’S UP TO FAITH= When we refer to faith, talk about faith.
Example: He’s never careful about other people’s things, but when it’s up to his own things, he gets very angry if you’re not careful. “Up to Faith” is also the organization who wrote this song and is organizing the international flashmob event.

FATE= Destiny.

GO THE DISTANCE= Never give up, keep to the end.

ONCE UPON A TIME…= This is the usual way traditional tales begin. It means, more or less “this happened a long time ago”.

LIVING WORD= In Christianity, the “living word”, that is, the person who embodies God’s will (his word) is Jesus.

COMING BACK TO HOME= Home is where you belong, so your ultimate home is heaven, with God.

HERE AND AFTER= Now and forever. In this life and in the next life.

TALK THE TALK= To speak like an expert, as if you know a lot about it and have experience. It is most commonly used in the expression “if you talk the talk, better walk the walk”, which means “don’t just talk about it, do it” or “practise what you preach”. So when the song says “don’t just talk the talk empty handed” it means basically the same: you must add actions to your words, or they will be empty.

EMPTY-HANDED= If you are empty handed you have nothing (your hands are empty), or you give nothing, you have no value to the others.

WALK THE WALK= (See what we said above about “Talk the Talk”) The complete expression is “if you talk the talk better walk the walk” = practise what you say.

GRANTED= If something is granted it’s yours for the asking, you just know (or suppose) is there for you.
- If we take the seas for granted and keep polluting them, one day we’ll find that it’s too late.
- You can’t take her love for granted, you have to care about her.
- Children take money for granted because they don’t know how hard it is to get it.

AWESOME= Fantastic, incredible.

MERCY= Something for which to be thankful; a blessing.

TUNE IN= (coll.) Listen (talking about the radio, to tune in is to dial your radio so you can get the right signal for the station you want to listen to).

THE KEY= The most important thing.

CRUCIAL= Really important.

FOREMOST= First in time or space, paramount, the most important.

FORMIDABLE= Incredible, powerful.

NO CLUB CARD HOLDS= Is not a matter of luck or destiny (playing cards are used for gambling.

DILIGENCE= Proper attention or care.

THE ONE AND ONLY= God, or maybe Jesus (which is the same).

WHOLE= Complete.

LIFE STORY= The story of your life, everything that happens to you.