What Would You Say

I'm not a theist, but I debate them, and I always thought this song was about questioning God and other stuff in the Bible. In fact, that's mostly why I enjoy it. Let me elaborate:

"Up and down a puppies hair Fleas and Ticks jump everywhere Because of original sin" -- Adam and Eee eating from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge Of Good and Evil in the garden of Eden was called The Original Sin, and therefore every person born after that is born a sinner and must be cleansed and prove himself again (as opposed to Adam and Eve, who were supposedly born perfect, meaning, without sin). When he says Fleas and Ticks jump everywhere, it's like your sins, your lies, all the things we consider bad about people, and how they're "jumping around" inside us.

"Down the hill fell Jack and Jill" -- Adam and Eve...

"And you came tumbling after Because of original sin" -- Since they sinned, you have to pay for it, being a successive generation (quite several, if you believe the whoel thing) from them.

"Rip away the tears Drink a hope to happy years And you may find A lifetime's passed you by" -- It's sort of like, don't dwell on the negative thinsg that happened, but try to learn from there -- or you'll spend your whole life in bitter regret and anger.

This is the part, te struggle about whether to question God or not: "What would you say Don't drop the big one If you were a monkey on a string" Don't cut my lifeline If you were a doggie on a chain" -- What would you say, he's saying, if someone told you that you were just a puppet to God, playing along to what he planned out? There is quite an argument going around, and it says that if God is omniscient, then he knew what Adam and Eve would do (even though they would have "free will"God still knows the outcome) and yet he chose to put them there ANYWAY, casuing the whole Original Sin, the damnation of mankind, to take place. In that way, Adam and Eve were just pawns in a bigger plan, puppets, monkeys on strings, dogs on leashes, however you want to paint the same picture.

"Don't bite the mailman What would you say" -- Don't bite the mailman is sort like, don't do what you shouldn't do. It's another allusion to not eating from the Tree, and don't "bite the mailman" could also be the way of saying, "Maybe you shouldn't question God."

"I was there when the bear Ate his head, thought it was a candy Everyone goes in the end" -- Taking the apple, eating it, without caring... and then about the inevitably of death, and the underlying question of: We're all going to die, so we should enjoy our time here: should we question? Should we rebel? Should we only do what has been planned for us? etc etc

"Knock knock on the door Who?s it for, there?s nobody in here Look in the mirror, my friend" -- After they ate, Adam and Eve were ashamed and God was saying, "Where are you? Why are you hiding?" You could chalk this up to another example of God not knowing everything, but it's not curcial. What he's saying is, God knows you are there and what you did, regardless of whether you deny it.

"I don?t understand at best And cannot speak for all the rest" -- He doesn't understand why he is responsible for the original sin, much like white men today shouldn't be responsible for slavery so long ago.

"The morning rise a lifetime?s passed me by Every dog has its day every day has its way Of being forgotten - Mom it?s my birthday What would you say" -- This is where he sort of throws in the towel on the whoe pondering, and says, "Well, I'm going to die some day, so maybe this is one of the things I shouldn't worry about."

Wow, I sounded like such a fundie here. Ah well. I didn't write it.