It's about bigotry and persecution by fundamentalist christians. She begins by warning that just because the current political situation is fairly tolerant, that doesn't mean it'll stay that way forever. She forsees being on the run and struggling against an intolerant state. The "Brother" part is interesting. It could, as others have suggested, be a deliberately non-sexual/romantic term meaning "brother in arms", e.g. her allies in this political struggle, or it could be a reference to "big brother", e.g. the oppressive state which is persecuting her. "Midnight knocks!" brings to mind secret police, knocking on people's doors in the middle of the night and making them "disappear", and "explosions!" as people resist them.
She then admits that maybe this is all just a bleak fantasy that occupies her more pessimistic moments. She says that perhaps instead the Christians are right and the "Rapture" will occur. This is a reference to the belief amongst some Christians that at some point God will take up all the truly faithful into Heaven, leaving only non-Christians left on the Earth. However, if it doesn't happen, she fears that her dark daydream will come true...
JonR, I agree with you mostly. When I first heard the song I thought of the rapture that you explain in your second paragraph; however, I found no meaning in the song that correlated with bigotry or persecution. I do know that christians believe there will be some who aren't christians when the rapture occurs but will become christians afterwards and those "left behind" will be persecuted as their beliefs will upset the popular government. My thoughts coincide with yours, but for an opposite outcome, I thought rather, it was about the political state currently and how it...
JonR, I agree with you mostly. When I first heard the song I thought of the rapture that you explain in your second paragraph; however, I found no meaning in the song that correlated with bigotry or persecution. I do know that christians believe there will be some who aren't christians when the rapture occurs but will become christians afterwards and those "left behind" will be persecuted as their beliefs will upset the popular government. My thoughts coincide with yours, but for an opposite outcome, I thought rather, it was about the political state currently and how it is mainly tolerant but according to christian belief it won't stay that way. Here, as you, I believe "Brother" refers to the government and also think it refers to those left on earth, after the rapture. The "midnight knocks" and "explosions" refer to the new government tactics that many will experience here on earth if they don't adhere to the new government rule. but only the songwriter knows truly, eh? great song...
It's about bigotry and persecution by fundamentalist christians. She begins by warning that just because the current political situation is fairly tolerant, that doesn't mean it'll stay that way forever. She forsees being on the run and struggling against an intolerant state. The "Brother" part is interesting. It could, as others have suggested, be a deliberately non-sexual/romantic term meaning "brother in arms", e.g. her allies in this political struggle, or it could be a reference to "big brother", e.g. the oppressive state which is persecuting her. "Midnight knocks!" brings to mind secret police, knocking on people's doors in the middle of the night and making them "disappear", and "explosions!" as people resist them.
She then admits that maybe this is all just a bleak fantasy that occupies her more pessimistic moments. She says that perhaps instead the Christians are right and the "Rapture" will occur. This is a reference to the belief amongst some Christians that at some point God will take up all the truly faithful into Heaven, leaving only non-Christians left on the Earth. However, if it doesn't happen, she fears that her dark daydream will come true...
JonR, I agree with you mostly. When I first heard the song I thought of the rapture that you explain in your second paragraph; however, I found no meaning in the song that correlated with bigotry or persecution. I do know that christians believe there will be some who aren't christians when the rapture occurs but will become christians afterwards and those "left behind" will be persecuted as their beliefs will upset the popular government. My thoughts coincide with yours, but for an opposite outcome, I thought rather, it was about the political state currently and how it...
JonR, I agree with you mostly. When I first heard the song I thought of the rapture that you explain in your second paragraph; however, I found no meaning in the song that correlated with bigotry or persecution. I do know that christians believe there will be some who aren't christians when the rapture occurs but will become christians afterwards and those "left behind" will be persecuted as their beliefs will upset the popular government. My thoughts coincide with yours, but for an opposite outcome, I thought rather, it was about the political state currently and how it is mainly tolerant but according to christian belief it won't stay that way. Here, as you, I believe "Brother" refers to the government and also think it refers to those left on earth, after the rapture. The "midnight knocks" and "explosions" refer to the new government tactics that many will experience here on earth if they don't adhere to the new government rule. but only the songwriter knows truly, eh? great song...