My own interpretation is that this song is about the general ressurection. If anyone's unfamiliar, the general resurrection is a belief that is common to classical Judaism as well as orthodox Christianity, which is basically that at some point in the future the god of Israel would resurrect the dead, with the righteous being welcomed into the messianic kingdom. (The whole obsession with the afterlife is a later mistake.)
A lot of the imagery, as well as the terminology, in this song is taken from classical Judaism. The nations, in Jewish thought, was basically a word for the non-Jewish world. In the messianic age, Israel would be vindicated. This is where the lines 'I know, I know the nations past/I know they rust at last' fit in. The language about the axe is reminiscent of John the Baptist, who announced with very vivid imagery, including that of an axe being laid to the root of a tree, that Israel's god was issuing judgment upon his people.
A lot of the imagery can be made sense of if I'm right, including the sounding of the horns, which was apocalyptic imagery for the arrival of the kingdom. It's kind of funny then that people focus so much on Sufjan's Christianity, which of course informs a lot of his music, when an equal amount of his imagery is derived, consciously or not, from the Jewish tradition.
... Of course, I could be entirely wrong and this song is actually about zombies coming to eat people. I dunno.
My own interpretation is that this song is about the general ressurection. If anyone's unfamiliar, the general resurrection is a belief that is common to classical Judaism as well as orthodox Christianity, which is basically that at some point in the future the god of Israel would resurrect the dead, with the righteous being welcomed into the messianic kingdom. (The whole obsession with the afterlife is a later mistake.)
A lot of the imagery, as well as the terminology, in this song is taken from classical Judaism. The nations, in Jewish thought, was basically a word for the non-Jewish world. In the messianic age, Israel would be vindicated. This is where the lines 'I know, I know the nations past/I know they rust at last' fit in. The language about the axe is reminiscent of John the Baptist, who announced with very vivid imagery, including that of an axe being laid to the root of a tree, that Israel's god was issuing judgment upon his people.
A lot of the imagery can be made sense of if I'm right, including the sounding of the horns, which was apocalyptic imagery for the arrival of the kingdom. It's kind of funny then that people focus so much on Sufjan's Christianity, which of course informs a lot of his music, when an equal amount of his imagery is derived, consciously or not, from the Jewish tradition.
... Of course, I could be entirely wrong and this song is actually about zombies coming to eat people. I dunno.