At first I thought this song was supposed to be about Sage's Dad/Grandpa/father-figure, but some of the lines later in the song don't jive with this. I'm not quite sure what Sage's message in this song is supposed to be, but I think it may have something to do with rediscovering God or faith. The last line is particularly indicative of this, as I'm pretty sure that AA and other addiction groups have various steps. Usually one of these steps includes turning to God or something like that. The whole addict/drunk theme is a metaphor for faith. I guess Sage "quit" religion and got clean, but finds himself going back to it like an addict.
One of the other songs on this album, "Hoofprints in the Sand", has a line about acting different "when there's atheists around", and then later praying "when the chips are down". Also, the "Dead-Again Christian" line in this song has been used several times before in Sage's past songs, which I guess is a good description of his beliefs. My guess is that he bounces back between being a christian and falling out of the faith, over and over.
I think this song is also a lament for the secularization of society. I think Sage is talking about God himself in the first part of the song, and society's increasing religious apathy has God "living in a hole"; maybe Sage is talking about the whole "God is Dead" thing? I'm not sure, because he does have some pretty cynical things to say about religion in general.
At first I thought this song was supposed to be about Sage's Dad/Grandpa/father-figure, but some of the lines later in the song don't jive with this. I'm not quite sure what Sage's message in this song is supposed to be, but I think it may have something to do with rediscovering God or faith. The last line is particularly indicative of this, as I'm pretty sure that AA and other addiction groups have various steps. Usually one of these steps includes turning to God or something like that. The whole addict/drunk theme is a metaphor for faith. I guess Sage "quit" religion and got clean, but finds himself going back to it like an addict.
One of the other songs on this album, "Hoofprints in the Sand", has a line about acting different "when there's atheists around", and then later praying "when the chips are down". Also, the "Dead-Again Christian" line in this song has been used several times before in Sage's past songs, which I guess is a good description of his beliefs. My guess is that he bounces back between being a christian and falling out of the faith, over and over.
I think this song is also a lament for the secularization of society. I think Sage is talking about God himself in the first part of the song, and society's increasing religious apathy has God "living in a hole"; maybe Sage is talking about the whole "God is Dead" thing? I'm not sure, because he does have some pretty cynical things to say about religion in general.
Overall, this song is amazing.