The song is based on the life of Julian of Norwich, the famous medieval mystic; the perspective is from someone in the modern day, wondering about the sacrifices she made.
Julian of Norwich
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Wikipedia
(or Juliana) of Norwich (1343 - after 1416), also known as Dame Julian or Mother Julian, was a...
Julian of Norwich was a charming farming girl
Perfectly content in her little peasant world
Prepared to live her weary dreary life
To live as someone's perfect little wife
Then one day she heard a higher, mighty voice
And to her it seemed that there was a higher choice
So she made her vows and the whole world she did tell
She would live alone in a little walled-off cell
Julian of Norwich, why did you go away?
Don't you know your family thinks of you every day?
And though your faith is strong it has to be said
To your own family you may as well be dead
Julian of Norwich was buried alive
On only bread and water she could not survive
But she always prepared for this day
She went through her funeral before they locked her away
All the people came from far and wide
They could not go in so they stayed outside
They opened up their hearts
And confessed their sins
Their stories made Julian's cut up head spin