Selling The Drama

Wow, all this deep analysis and apparently nobody has hit on the obvious meaning of this song. The title says it all: "Selling the Drama". Here's another big hint. Right beside the written lyrics in the Throwing Copper CD insert there is a little stick figure cartoon. The cartoon depicts a person standing at a pulpit above a crowd. The person is screaming through a megaphone. Get it? The Bible is the drama and Christian leaders are the sellers. This song is about how religious leaders capitalize and cash in on the beliefs of the faithful.

The songwriter takes three voices in this song: 1. The preacher selling the myth. 2. The songwriter himself and his own religious views 3. The parishioners who are being exploited. In the first verse the preacher explains the how religion is sold, with a carrot and a stick. The love of a benevolent father figure is the carrot. The fear of eternal flames is the stick. Good or bad, meek or strong, the book is written and just about everyone knows and believes the story. There is no need to reinvent the wheel in order to cash in. All one needs to do is "just scream it from the wall(s)" to use an old expression.

Then the songwriter uses his own voice to tell us about his own beliefs. "I've willed, I've walked.... I've been here before" refers to his apparent belief in reincarnation. The beautiful song "Lighting Crashes" makes strong reference to reincarnation as well. "Oh now feel it comin' back again... forces pullin' from the center of the earth again... presents the circle..."

In the line "we wont be raped... we won't be scared like that" he speaks for the parishioners who, when snapped out of their spell, reject the exploitation. Then in the last two verses he reverts back to the voice of the preacher. The sun burns, the wheel turns, we sing, we dance, whatever it takes to keep them under our spell. Armed with the story, symbol and authority of Christ on the cross, the preacher sits back at the pulpit collecting his ransom for the souls of his parishioners.

The irony of this song, that I imagine the songwriter doesn't even realize, is that he rejects one brand of superstition while he exposes is own brand of superstition. It's astonishing how many people can have the good sense to rid themselves of such deeply ingrained nonsense, yet they easily fall right into a new flavor of nonsense. It's a flawed song. But the flaws make me like it all the more!