Having listened to the entire album many times, I think that Tom is giving us his view on religion at this point in time.
Mephisto's is sort of like an atheist's anthem, and forty days gives me a little bit of a "there really isn't a god" feeling, as do the other songs.
This song, though, I think Tom's talking about how so many people devote their life to cleansing themselves of sin, instead of focusing on life itself (a theme also in We Will Fall Together, saying we're too obsessed with the afterlife and the dead, while we're not even there yet). The "disease" is sin and religious impurity, and the "vaccinating" is our solid societal belief in a "higher power" that we don't even know truly exists. "Trying to hide our maladies" I think is us as humans denying we sin and trying to stay ultimately "pure" so we can live eternally in the afterlife.
I pretty much think the entire album is Tom calling out the existence of god and all religion. Maybe he's another anguished soul that's just really pissed off?
Again, just another take on it. We can never be positive unless it comes from the genius's mouth itself.
Having listened to the entire album many times, I think that Tom is giving us his view on religion at this point in time.
Mephisto's is sort of like an atheist's anthem, and forty days gives me a little bit of a "there really isn't a god" feeling, as do the other songs. This song, though, I think Tom's talking about how so many people devote their life to cleansing themselves of sin, instead of focusing on life itself (a theme also in We Will Fall Together, saying we're too obsessed with the afterlife and the dead, while we're not even there yet). The "disease" is sin and religious impurity, and the "vaccinating" is our solid societal belief in a "higher power" that we don't even know truly exists. "Trying to hide our maladies" I think is us as humans denying we sin and trying to stay ultimately "pure" so we can live eternally in the afterlife. I pretty much think the entire album is Tom calling out the existence of god and all religion. Maybe he's another anguished soul that's just really pissed off? Again, just another take on it. We can never be positive unless it comes from the genius's mouth itself.
-Andrew