I'm surprised at how few comments there are on this, it's a great song. (Although I guess The Dodos aren't amazing popular yet.) To me it doesn't speak of religion, but perceived mental illness. The beginning seems to be talking about how everyone is weak and feels alone, that it's just the way humans are, reaching out to others for something to lean on. The line "No more patient" puzzles me; other than the fact that it's not really grammatically correct, it seems that it could be interpreted as either a literal hospital patient or as a "patient person". The former emphasizes my original idea, that it's about someone who's just as weak as everyone else but is told that he needs help. The lines "Hey there young man come understand/The ways you need to heal/I see your stress come take our test/come on this shit is real" definitely sounds like psychological tests, a doctor telling someone to come to the ward, along with the "you need help" lines. I admit that the last two lines smack of religion (a really pessimistic view of it, but...), but this didn't really occur to me the first time I heard it. (Silly of me, especially with the "why don't you kneel" like.) But the first thing that struck me when I heard it was that it could almost be the theme song to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." If you've read it, keep that in mind and listen to the song again. I think you'll see what I mean.
I'm surprised at how few comments there are on this, it's a great song. (Although I guess The Dodos aren't amazing popular yet.) To me it doesn't speak of religion, but perceived mental illness. The beginning seems to be talking about how everyone is weak and feels alone, that it's just the way humans are, reaching out to others for something to lean on. The line "No more patient" puzzles me; other than the fact that it's not really grammatically correct, it seems that it could be interpreted as either a literal hospital patient or as a "patient person". The former emphasizes my original idea, that it's about someone who's just as weak as everyone else but is told that he needs help. The lines "Hey there young man come understand/The ways you need to heal/I see your stress come take our test/come on this shit is real" definitely sounds like psychological tests, a doctor telling someone to come to the ward, along with the "you need help" lines. I admit that the last two lines smack of religion (a really pessimistic view of it, but...), but this didn't really occur to me the first time I heard it. (Silly of me, especially with the "why don't you kneel" like.) But the first thing that struck me when I heard it was that it could almost be the theme song to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." If you've read it, keep that in mind and listen to the song again. I think you'll see what I mean.