Divinity Within

Since the band has confirmed that this album is a story and this third of that story is told by the prsion priest we know that is fact. the interpretation part is what the priest is thinking just before Kezia (the condemmed woman) is executed.

He is thinking about the execution to come, the place where she will die (the backyard which is the their makeshift valley of death) and he is thinking about the night before, he watched her eat her final meal and he watched her crying. Then he is thinking that whatever she did (its never explicitly explained) may be decriminalized in the future (im thinking she did something like protest against a dictator, which could be where the band name comes from). if that is decriminalized in the future then her execution would have been for nothing. if she could be watching from heaven she'd be seriously pissed to have her life cut short for no reason.

also the bite my neck and peel away aging skin is either a reference to the guilt the priest is feeling or a new feeling of love for Kezia

but thats just my interpretation

Good interpretation, except maybe the 'protest against a dictator' part. Her crime was most likely gender-based, something along the lines of prostitution ("no woman is a whore", etc. from Turn Soonest to the Sea).

I have to admit, this is probably my least favorite song on Kezia, but it STILL kicks mighty ass.

Found out something else; awesome allusion in this song - Psalms 23: "Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of Death, I shall fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me."

Kezia basically has no one to comfort or save her, and she is having to face her death alone. I love how the last song in every 'act' always leaves off at the very end before she gets executed. And then "A Plateful of Our Dead" comes in AFTER her death. So you never actually experience the exact moment of her execution, but you know it happened....

This song is pretty straightforward if you understand the backstory of the concept album, but a new perspective -

If anyone's read the New Testament, try comparing the prison priest to a pharisee. If you're familiar, you'll unlock something interesting.

yeah, her crime is related to trying to liberate females (in russia?). i think the bite my neck part is that he is the living dead and she is the real thing( i think?) and that she will bring him back to life (reverse vampire thing) and reveal the divinity within, his soul, or the lack of it

i believe the priest sees the face of god in kezia and is frightened. "But glanced at me in ways that brought to life my sleeping fears" as in the song before Heretics and Killers, the priest is losing or has lost his faith and now sees it more of a profession than a calling. so when he sees the holiness of kezia and the realization they are almost re-inacting the crucifixion of christ he is afreaid to say anything and realizes that the world, and himself have fallen into despair for killing god again he wants god to peel away his outer shell of faithlessness and hesitantcy to believe and make him divine again. its almost as if the priest is having a epiphany in kezia and her presence. a epiphany he doesnt actually want for in the way he words it its almost as if he has completely done away with god especially in the willingness to hear her last words and not stop the execution a priest without a god showing the al encompassing effects of injustifiable punishment against crimes committed.

first post: i just created this account to comment on the album as a whole. I recently picked this album up after first hearing fortress, and i have been analyzing the lyrics and compositions in an effort to decipher to story.

here's my take:

Kezia is imprisoned for a crime that is never alluded to, but i speculate that it was something realted to dissidence, and most likley completley unjustified. the brutality and corruption of the system as a whole is alluded to a number of times within the album.

naturally, these are segregated camps, and she is being held captive with other women. executions are probably a common occurance, though given human nature, i would imagine many of these girls would be kept alive to gratify the sexual desires of the presumably male prison staff.

kezia seems to be the favored consort of the prison priest, who can see her growing more and more resentful of the forced relationship each and every day.

"Last night I saw you dine with lovers and human tears But glanced at me in ways that brought to life my sleeping fears That today you'll bite my neck"

i think that Kezia decides that she would rather have her life snuffed out than to continue the role of a whore for the pleasure of her captors. in "turn soonest to the sea"

"So when you bled on the bed as you fed those expectations as a whore and not a human You embraced with hesitation the very parameters of all you can be--Not a mother, not an aunt, not a sister who's not subdued Because dignity's not physical and your flesh means more than you"

she is sentenced to death because of her defiance to the priest in whatever manner. she refuses to be a whore.

this is evident in the title of the last song in her story. "The Divine Suicide of K." It implies that she didn't have to die...she could have continued living, albeit in wretched conditions.

also interesting: in blindfolds aside, we hear the gunman reflect

"...a sin i didnt care for, but a sin that paid my debts, a sin that fed my children, that burned my smiles and cigarettes."

after the song ends, these same words are sung by a female voice, presumably representing Kezia....putting those words into a much different context.

"If anyone's read the New Testament, try comparing the prison priest to a pharisee. If you're familiar, you'll unlock something interesting. "

yes. the priest is a hypocrit, and he knows it.

oh wow i just got this! Her crime was ADULTERY it's another biblical reference. just like psalm 23 and the last supper. see John 7:53-8:11

does this song remind anyone else of 1984? Winston being sent to Room 101 for rebelling against Big Brother, Julia having sex against society's will?