Not sure if this is what Gene meant, but this is what I get out of it.
God gets blamed for everything that goes wrong. If we look superficially at the circumstances we see it's easy to say, "Well God didn't stop this from happening, so he must not exist", or something of equivalent misconception. This song is about looking deeper into the situations and circumstances to realize how it might fit into God's plan. It's also an expression of commitment to be seeking God rather than drawing conclusions based on partial information.
In the first verse I think he is talking about the early days of his life, being naive and then disillusioned by life.
In the first chorus I think he's talking about the struggle by the most unlikely of people. Those who are downcast, but not giving up. Still searching for the meaning, and not surrendering. Maybe in the form of a crazy old man walking down the street muttering to himself. Trying to unravel the mysteries of life. These people are often dismissed by society because they don't fit in, but maybe it's the fact that they don't fit in that gives them an insight that we lack.
In the second verse I think he's talking about typical Christianity. We know what the Bible says, but we don't make the effort to implement it into our lives. He also makes reference to the "girl ghost in the stair way" being appreciative that he is still searching for answers. I'm not really sure how it fits, but it almost seems like honoring those who died without hope by finding out why.
The second chorus is along the same lines as the first. He's talking about those outside of the mainstream possibly being closer to God than those who follow the status quo.
In the third verse he asks the question: is life truely meaningless. Then he leaves it open ended citing a few reasons why it might be, but then nevertheless commits to searching. I'm reminded of Ecclesiasties, everything is meanless, but fear and follow God anyway. Never give up searching for the truth.
Not sure if this is what Gene meant, but this is what I get out of it.
God gets blamed for everything that goes wrong. If we look superficially at the circumstances we see it's easy to say, "Well God didn't stop this from happening, so he must not exist", or something of equivalent misconception. This song is about looking deeper into the situations and circumstances to realize how it might fit into God's plan. It's also an expression of commitment to be seeking God rather than drawing conclusions based on partial information.
In the first verse I think he is talking about the early days of his life, being naive and then disillusioned by life.
In the first chorus I think he's talking about the struggle by the most unlikely of people. Those who are downcast, but not giving up. Still searching for the meaning, and not surrendering. Maybe in the form of a crazy old man walking down the street muttering to himself. Trying to unravel the mysteries of life. These people are often dismissed by society because they don't fit in, but maybe it's the fact that they don't fit in that gives them an insight that we lack.
In the second verse I think he's talking about typical Christianity. We know what the Bible says, but we don't make the effort to implement it into our lives. He also makes reference to the "girl ghost in the stair way" being appreciative that he is still searching for answers. I'm not really sure how it fits, but it almost seems like honoring those who died without hope by finding out why.
The second chorus is along the same lines as the first. He's talking about those outside of the mainstream possibly being closer to God than those who follow the status quo.
In the third verse he asks the question: is life truely meaningless. Then he leaves it open ended citing a few reasons why it might be, but then nevertheless commits to searching. I'm reminded of Ecclesiasties, everything is meanless, but fear and follow God anyway. Never give up searching for the truth.