Men of Station

"[in] as [much] hell as you"?

despite human inequality, we all suffer. even if you are rich ("of station" meaning "of status"), you are not exempt from pain.

however, it must be noted that if you have less, you will most likely suffer more. the troubles of a millionaire are valid and sad, but they are of course not as bad as a starved person living in a third world country.

so there is validity in all suffering, but that doesn't mean that we should forget about people who suffer more and just write their troubles off with a "c'est la vie."

Heh that's an interesting idea, i didn't think of that. Great album. =)

"Resistance to the creative movement of life puts us in touch with a force or a principle the Bible calls Satan."

Because these fine men have truthfully followed their innate creative calling as musicians I would say they are not as hell as us.

suchprettywords seems to have a good idea of what the song means. No matter the meaning, it's still a beautiful song.

The fact that they repeat the same lyrics over and should suggest a very deep making to this song that would not be caught the first time. The other comments make a good basis, but they missed the real meaning in my mind. What they are saying is that, though men of status have plenty of problems of their own that are unique and painful, they are not like the hell that many people go through in third world countries and in places of massive and ongoing social unrest.

Another variation would be in war. War generals have a whole lot of troubles, but war is hell. Men on the front lines don't have to worry about politics and larger strategies, but the generals don't have to face the enemy on the front lines in combat.

There is also a sense of condescension in these few lines, but that doesn't mean that it's the malicious kind. It's simply a fact that western businessmen going through the horrible economy with a family to worry about don't have to worry about genocide in Africa. This song is pointing out the stark difference between people that is largely forgotten. It is also true that many people in America who have very little have a whole lot more that many people in other countries. It's easy to take blessing for granted. The computer in front of you, no matter how "crappy", is a computer for crying out loud! And you have Internet acess. Yeah, that's huge.