Building on what simiankolya said... I think the song describes humanity being conditioned by religion but even when we try to think outside the box, we end up just being controlled by our own progress. It starts off describing how people are made to believe that they are higher beings due to religion and there's a kind of conformity that must exist in order to force people to believe that. I think then that the candyman just represents scientific knowledge and truth in general. It's something that the church didn't want anyone to have. Eventually, the song seems to describe more and more people becoming disastisfied with religion being the center of their lives. As for the rest of the song, I'm really not sure, but I think it would seem to mean that now that people rely on science and technology more, it still comes at a price ("just a test tube life away" seems to describe a typical futuristic dystopic setting as a result of human progress). And at that point, you come to the dismal realization that your progress has actually failed you, just like how organized religion kept people in the dark ages. The chorus seems to suggest this, with "so you see I try, I cannot ever displace, you see I'm jaded at times from nowhere leaving this place" meaning that no matter how humanity tries to gain control and think like individuals, it will never work out. I don't know, that's just my opinion on the whole thing... I'm usually bad at analyzing symbolism.
Building on what simiankolya said... I think the song describes humanity being conditioned by religion but even when we try to think outside the box, we end up just being controlled by our own progress. It starts off describing how people are made to believe that they are higher beings due to religion and there's a kind of conformity that must exist in order to force people to believe that. I think then that the candyman just represents scientific knowledge and truth in general. It's something that the church didn't want anyone to have. Eventually, the song seems to describe more and more people becoming disastisfied with religion being the center of their lives. As for the rest of the song, I'm really not sure, but I think it would seem to mean that now that people rely on science and technology more, it still comes at a price ("just a test tube life away" seems to describe a typical futuristic dystopic setting as a result of human progress). And at that point, you come to the dismal realization that your progress has actually failed you, just like how organized religion kept people in the dark ages. The chorus seems to suggest this, with "so you see I try, I cannot ever displace, you see I'm jaded at times from nowhere leaving this place" meaning that no matter how humanity tries to gain control and think like individuals, it will never work out. I don't know, that's just my opinion on the whole thing... I'm usually bad at analyzing symbolism.