Going on the earlier observation that "Sin Eater" refers to someone who takes the sins of other onto himself, I have to disagree with the "anti-American" interpretation and instead say this song is about Ted Leo's struggle with religion, specifically Christianity, and how supposedly religious people do such terrible things. For one thing, "Sin Eater" seems to me a reference to Jesus, who claimed to sacrifice himself for the sins of mankind. Pretty straightforward.
So, the song traces Ted's spiritual journey. He starts feeling "uncertain," so he leaves home and travels the world, and sees places marred by religious or ethnic strife: Ireland (the Troubles), Serbia/Yugoslavia (ethnic cleansing), the Basque Country (terrorism), Rwanda (genocide), Sierra Leone (blood diamonds). He can't understand how the atrocities could have happened in self-professed Christian places.
The French Foreign Legion's tenets include brotherhood among its members regardless of religion or background, but Ted can't believe that this is possible.
Finally, Ted drinks a bunch of whiskey to try and forget what he's seen and also to try and remove the doubt and uncertainty he's feeling.
I think the chorus is saying that Jesus never expected people to hate him, but now people do because of the things done in his name. When the scales fell from Paul's eyes in Damascus, they revealed to him Jesus as savior; when the same happened to Ted, he only saw that "everybody lies."
Going on the earlier observation that "Sin Eater" refers to someone who takes the sins of other onto himself, I have to disagree with the "anti-American" interpretation and instead say this song is about Ted Leo's struggle with religion, specifically Christianity, and how supposedly religious people do such terrible things. For one thing, "Sin Eater" seems to me a reference to Jesus, who claimed to sacrifice himself for the sins of mankind. Pretty straightforward.
So, the song traces Ted's spiritual journey. He starts feeling "uncertain," so he leaves home and travels the world, and sees places marred by religious or ethnic strife: Ireland (the Troubles), Serbia/Yugoslavia (ethnic cleansing), the Basque Country (terrorism), Rwanda (genocide), Sierra Leone (blood diamonds). He can't understand how the atrocities could have happened in self-professed Christian places.
The French Foreign Legion's tenets include brotherhood among its members regardless of religion or background, but Ted can't believe that this is possible.
Finally, Ted drinks a bunch of whiskey to try and forget what he's seen and also to try and remove the doubt and uncertainty he's feeling.
I think the chorus is saying that Jesus never expected people to hate him, but now people do because of the things done in his name. When the scales fell from Paul's eyes in Damascus, they revealed to him Jesus as savior; when the same happened to Ted, he only saw that "everybody lies."