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Eternity Awaits
Break, break, break on the cold gray stones, O Sea,
And I wish my tongue could carry,
All these thoughts that rise in me.
Well for the fisherman’s boy,
Laughin’ with his sister at play.
Well for the sailor lad,
Singin’ out on the open bay.
Break, break, break
On the shoreline endlessly,
And the tender grace of a day long gone
Won’t come back to me.
Stately ships roll on,
Find their haven under the hill,
But I ache for a vanished hand
And a voice that’s quiet still.
Life keeps movin’ forward,
While I’m standin’ in the foam,
Watchin’ joy pass by like strangers
While the sea keeps callin’ home.
Break, break, break
On the shoreline endlessly,
And the tender grace of a day long gone
Won’t come back to me.
Children shout on the beaches,
Sunlight dances on the tide,
But the world feels split in two
Since the day my joy died.
Every wave repeats the story,
Every wave repeats the cost,
And I stand here with the memory
Of the hand and voice I lost.
Break, break, break
On the shoreline endlessly,
And the tender grace of a day long gone
Won’t come back to me.
But the Maker shaped these waters
And the mountains where they fall.
He set the stars to mark the hours
And He’s waitin’ past them all.
This breakin’ life is mortal,
Just a practice for the soul,
And eternity is comin’
Where the tide can’t take its toll.
Break, break, break
Let the waves keep hittin’ me.
I’ll stand inside His creation now
Where the truth runs wild and free.
Break, break, break
This short life’s not the end I see.
When the mortal days are over,
Eternity awaits for me.
STORY BOARD
SONG OVERVIEW
Written and produced by Tasmanian Songwriter Jason Bresnehan, Eternity Awaits is inspired by one of the most recognised poems in the English language. The song begins with the poem's stark observation that life can often appear difficult, uncertain and burdened by suffering. People experience disappointment, loss, setbacks, failure and seasons where life feels far harder than they expected.
Where the song deliberately departs from the original poem is in its search for an answer. Jason has little interest in presenting a problem without at least exploring a possible solution. Eternity Awaits therefore takes the questions raised by the original poem and responds with a simple proposition. If life is viewed only through the lens of the present moment, suffering can appear overwhelming. If life is viewed through the lens of eternity, suffering takes on a different meaning. The result is a surprisingly uplifting song that encourages resilience, perseverance and hope.
THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING
The song acknowledges a reality that most people understand from personal experience. Life is not always fair. Good people suffer. Plans fail. Dreams collapse. Hard-working people sometimes seem to receive little reward for their efforts. Looking only at earthly circumstances, it can be difficult to explain why hardship exists at all.
Rather than pretending these realities do not exist, Eternity Awaits confronts them directly. The lyric accepts suffering as part of the human experience but refuses to allow suffering to become the final conclusion. The song argues that a difficult chapter should never be mistaken for the entire book.
PROPOSING A SOLUTION
The defining feature of Eternity Awaits is that it moves beyond diagnosis and offers a response.
The answer proposed by the song is rooted in Christian faith. The struggles of this life are real, but they are temporary. Human existence extends beyond the boundaries of earthly life. In that context, suffering becomes something that can be endured rather than something that defines a person's identity or destiny.
The title itself becomes the solution. Eternity Awaits reframes every challenge, disappointment and setback. The song suggests that present difficulties should be measured against an eternal horizon rather than against today's circumstances alone. That perspective transforms despair into hope and uncertainty into endurance.
RESILIENCE IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY
One of the most powerful aspects of the song is that it is unexpectedly motivating.
Many songs that examine suffering focus on the hardship itself. Eternity Awaits focuses on perseverance. The message is not that life becomes easier. The message is that people are stronger than they often realise. The promise of eternity provides a reason to keep going when circumstances might otherwise tempt a person to give up.
The song encourages listeners to stay in the fight, remain faithful and continue moving forward regardless of current difficulties. The result is a message of resilience rather than resignation. It acknowledges pain while refusing to surrender to it.
FAITH AND PURPOSE
Faith functions as the foundation that supports the entire song. The lyric presents Christian belief not as a theoretical concept but as a practical source of strength for everyday life.
The song proposes that people can endure remarkable difficulties when they possess a meaningful reason to persevere. Eternity provides that reason. When viewed from an eternal perspective, present hardship becomes part of a much larger journey. Challenges remain difficult, but they no longer possess the final word.
MUSICAL DIRECTION
Eternity Awaits is built on a blues-rock foundation driven by gritty guitars, a steady rhythm section and a raw male vocal performance that carries both conviction and urgency. The song is less concerned with polish than authenticity. The vocal sounds lived-in and weathered, giving weight and credibility to the themes of struggle, perseverance and hope that run throughout the lyric.
The performance embraces the tension within the song. The lyric openly acknowledges hardship, disappointment and uncertainty, yet it continually pushes towards hope and determination. Rather than delivering encouragement through soft reassurance, the song delivers it through strength, grit and persistence.
The arrangement balances darkness and hope. The blues-rock framework provides the ideal vehicle for a song that wrestles honestly with suffering while ultimately pointing towards a larger purpose. The guitars, rhythm and vocal work together to create a sound that feels tough, grounded and surprisingly motivating.
The result is not a gentle reflection on suffering but a powerful statement about endurance. The song recognises that life can be difficult, yet provides a reason to keep moving forward. That combination of realism and hope gives Eternity Awaits much of its emotional impact.
THE ARTWORK
The artwork presents a dramatic night-time seascape beneath the Star of Bethlehem shining brightly above a turbulent ocean. Jagged black rocks rise from crashing waves while the radiant star dominates the sky, casting its light across the darkness and reflecting across the restless waters below.
The image serves as a visual representation of the song's central message. The ocean symbolises the storms, uncertainties and hardships that people encounter throughout life. The waves crash against the rocks with relentless force, reflecting the reality that suffering, disappointment and adversity are unavoidable parts of the human journey.
Above the chaos stands the Star of Bethlehem. In Christian tradition, the star guided the wise men towards Christ and became a symbol of divine guidance, hope and ultimate purpose. Within the context of Eternity Awaits, the star represents the answer proposed by the song. It is not the removal of hardship. It is the presence of direction within hardship.
The artwork therefore mirrors the lyric's central argument. Life's storms remain real. The rocks do not disappear. The waves do not cease. Yet above them shines a fixed and unmistakable guide. The Star of Bethlehem points beyond present struggles towards a greater destination, reinforcing the song's message that earthly difficulties are temporary when viewed against the horizon of eternity.
Rather than depicting escape from suffering, the artwork depicts guidance through suffering. The star becomes both a beacon and a promise, reminding the viewer that even in the darkest conditions there remains a clear point of reference leading towards hope, faith and eternity.
PERSONAL CONNECTION TO JASON BRESNEHAN SONGWRITER AND PRODUCER
The personal connection behind Eternity Awaits comes from Jason Bresnehan's belief that people need more than an explanation of life's problems. They need hope. They need purpose. They need a reason to endure when circumstances become difficult.
Through recovery, faith, business, family life and parish leadership, Jason has observed that people can withstand extraordinary challenges when they possess a meaningful reason to keep going. Conversely, even relatively small difficulties can become overwhelming when a person loses sight of hope.
Eternity Awaits reflects that conviction. The song acknowledges suffering without becoming trapped within it. It accepts life's difficulties while offering a response grounded in the promise of eternity.
Ultimately, the song delivers a simple but powerful message. Life is difficult. Struggles are real. Some questions may never be fully answered in this life. Yet none of these realities remove the possibility of hope. By placing present circumstances within the larger framework of eternity, the song encourages listeners to remain resilient, remain faithful and keep moving forward.
Eternity Awaits is ultimately a song about endurance. It invites people to lift their eyes beyond today's storms, beyond today's disappointments and beyond today's struggles, remembering that the final destination lies beyond the horizon. The song's answer is not that life becomes easier. Its answer is that eternity awaits, and that reality provides a reason to keep walking no matter how rough the seas become.