The Great Deceiver Lyrics

Lyric discussion by Petary791 

Cover art for The Great Deceiver lyrics by King Crimson

I think the Great Deceiver is religion. It shows how hypocrital it is.

The chorus pretty much sums it up. Cigarettes (not healthy at all,) ice cream (a metaphor possibly?,) figurines of the virgin Mary (showing that these church powers smoke and eat, but they still have the virgin Mary so they're still "good people.")

@Petary791

The chorus is not symbolic. It is an account of things seen in a gift shop at The Vatican

The song is not a slam on religion but on the devilry behind the sale of religious fetishes. Jesus at the temple part 2

I have been listening to KC since 1972 and have never heard or seen an attack on religion. RF is a spiritual man.

One might argue Sinfield’s lyric in Poseidon is anti-Christian but the reverse seems true here: “Children kneel in Jesus til they learn the price of nails”. That has more to do with would-be adherents...