In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Sinner rider, rides in with the storm
The devil rides beside him
The devil is his God, God, help you mourn
Do you, do you hear it? Do you hear the thunder
Deafen every living thing about?
Can you, can you see it? Can you
See the mountains darken yonder?
Black sun rising, time is running out
Sacrifice to vice or die by the hand of the
Sinner
Sinner (is this obligation?)
Sinner
Sinner
His steed of fury
Eyes of fire and mane ablaze
Demonic vultures stalking
Drawn by the smell of war and pain
He roams the star ways
Searching for the carcasses of war
But if it's hungry then its very presence
Disrupts the calm into the storm
Curse and damn you all
You'll fall by the hand of the
Sinner
Sinner (desegregation)
Sinner
Sinner
(God of the) God of the Devils, God of the Devils
Won't you help them pray
(God of the Devils) God of the Devils
God of the Devils (God of the Devil)
Is there no other way?
Can't you hear their souls calling out in their plight
Can't you see their blood is boiling setting them alight
Thirty years now sleeping, so sound
(Sound, sound, sound, sound)
War raises its head, and looks slowly around
(Around, around, around, around)
The Sinner is near (near, near)
Sensing the fear (fear, fear)
And the beast will start movin' around (around)
Can't you see their souls calling out in their brain
Can't you hear their blood is boiling, setting them alight
Sinner, sinner, sinner, sinner
Sinner
Sinner
Sinner
Sinner
Sacrifice to vice or die by the hand of the curse
And damn you all, you'll fall by the hand of the sinner
The devil rides beside him
The devil is his God, God, help you mourn
Do you, do you hear it? Do you hear the thunder
Deafen every living thing about?
Can you, can you see it? Can you
See the mountains darken yonder?
Black sun rising, time is running out
Sacrifice to vice or die by the hand of the
Sinner
Sinner (is this obligation?)
Sinner
Sinner
His steed of fury
Eyes of fire and mane ablaze
Demonic vultures stalking
Drawn by the smell of war and pain
He roams the star ways
Searching for the carcasses of war
But if it's hungry then its very presence
Disrupts the calm into the storm
Curse and damn you all
You'll fall by the hand of the
Sinner
Sinner (desegregation)
Sinner
Sinner
(God of the) God of the Devils, God of the Devils
Won't you help them pray
(God of the Devils) God of the Devils
God of the Devils (God of the Devil)
Is there no other way?
Can't you hear their souls calling out in their plight
Can't you see their blood is boiling setting them alight
Thirty years now sleeping, so sound
(Sound, sound, sound, sound)
War raises its head, and looks slowly around
(Around, around, around, around)
The Sinner is near (near, near)
Sensing the fear (fear, fear)
And the beast will start movin' around (around)
Can't you see their souls calling out in their brain
Can't you hear their blood is boiling, setting them alight
Sinner, sinner, sinner, sinner
Sinner
Sinner
Sinner
Sinner
Sacrifice to vice or die by the hand of the curse
And damn you all, you'll fall by the hand of the sinner
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The song seems to be about Aliester crowley
He called himself "the beast"
One of his main objectives was to get us destroy the idea of sin. To "sin all you want" cuz in the end, sin is just a restrictive idea. He rallied against the christian idea of sin as much as any other of his pet notions top destroy (he felt himself on a mission to rid the world of christianty)
"Sacrifice to Vice" is such a cool line, one that uncle al would have truly dug.
He intentionally tried to be the sinner to top them all.
HOWEVER, the most clear clue is in the lyric "30 years now sleeping"....
Crowley died in 1947, and sin after sin was released in 1977. 30 years..
I dont usually find priest to have many crowleyan references, but this one is a sure thing.
If you read and know crowley, the song is almost an anthem of what the man was about.