"Ya Hey" is a song directly written to a divine being. It begins by looking at the position of god in the modern world. Koenig sings in the first verse: "Oh, sweet thing Zion doesn't love you And Babylon don't love you But you love everything. Oh, you saint America don't love you So I could never love you In spite of everything" Today, war is waged between Palestine and Israel, a land which was claimed by a group of nationalist Jews referred to as the Zionist movement. The holy lands have degraded to a violent mess. In America faith in god is at an all time low as religion becomes less and less socially respectable. The first prechorus refers to a "broken machine" which means the world that we live in today, a machine designed by god that has somehow strayed from the proper course and broken. The chanting of "Ya Hey" begins at the end of the prechorus, and the use of a pitch shifter starts to make it sound like they are chanting Yahweh, as god is referred to in the Torah. The chorus makes reference to the Bible: Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM THAT I AM"; The second prechorus sums up the message of the song, saying: "And I can't help but feel That you see the mistakes But you let it go" The song is about the patience of god with the failures of mankind.

Middle distance runners run typically everything from the 400 to the mile, but most middies prefer to run the 600, 800, or 1000 meter races. These races are longer than the typical sprints, the 50, 100, and 200, but shorter than the typical distance races, the 1600 (aka mile), 2 mile, and 5000 meters. Within the context of this song, the term middle distance runner refers to his ability to maintain a romantic relationship. It is not a fling, or a sprint, but it isn't the slower paced, long lasting distance race, which would compare to a long term relationship. Middle distance runners are much faster than distance runners, but lack stamina. In the metaphor of the song, this means the relationship is more intense and passionate, but shorter. The lyrics back this idea with the lines: "So won't you run to me tonight Tonight let's not talk about next summer Cause I'll only ever be A middle distance runner" and "But you'll have to run to me tonight Tonight I will love you forever But I'll only ever be A middle distance runner" With the second section however, the lyrics show the contrast between a sprint and a middle distance race, saying: "So won't you run to me tonight Do not pretend that we're just lovers But I'll only ever be A middle distance runner" It is clear that the protagonist wants more than a fling, but cant promise a life of attachment.