I just read an old interview with Steve Wilson on a german music website.
Asked about this song he says this (translation by me, annotations in brackets):
Question:
It says "God is in my fingers god is in my head" on a track from your new album. Delusions of grandeur?
Answer:
This is from "Halo", which is one of the songs that I've written throughout the last years and that centers around forms of organized religion. I am not a big fan of organized religion. In this special case, the text speaks(?) from the perspective of a person who is self-righteous concerning his religion.
The king of guy, who tries to tell you that his life is better, because of his faith founding some kind of superiority you do not have. (i am not sure if this is translated accurate. he said that the person believes their faith founds superiority)
One of my former friends converted to the Reborn Christians. It is difficult to keep up a friendship with these people after they passed over into "another world".
They start to patronize you, because they belive to have something you do not: faith, knowledge...
Question:
The answer to everything?
Answer:
Yeah, exactly. I always perceived that as insulting, but it happened to me and my friend and thus inspired "Halo". Whenever i had to deal with him, he acted as if he walked a halo. (difficult to translate: the german interview makes a wordplay with "walk a dog")
He made me feel as if i wasn't on the same level as he was.
He was full of that conviction. (i am really uncertain about this - literally it says: "he was infused with this conviction/belief")
You actually had a pretty good translation to begin with, but I wanted to give it a try myself (native German speaker). Turns out to be quite challenging to hit exactly the right "tone", especially given that the original interview was likely conducted in English and has thus been translated twice!
You actually had a pretty good translation to begin with, but I wanted to give it a try myself (native German speaker). Turns out to be quite challenging to hit exactly the right "tone", especially given that the original interview was likely conducted in English and has thus been translated twice!
"Q: In one of he tracks on your new album it says "God is in my fingers god is in my head". Illusions of grandeur?
"Q: In one of he tracks on your new album it says "God is in my fingers god is in my head". Illusions of grandeur?
A: That's from "Halo", one of those songs I've written over the years which deals with organized religion. I...
A: That's from "Halo", one of those songs I've written over the years which deals with organized religion. I am not a big fan of organized religion. In this particular case the lyrics are written from the point of view of a very self-rightous man as far as his religion is concerned. The type of person that would have you believe their life has improved because of their faith, something to justify a kind of smug superiority over you. One of my former friends became a Born-Again Christian. It is very hard to maintain a friendship with these kind of people after they step into "another world". They start patronizing you because they believe to possess something that you don't: Faith, Knowledge, etc.
Q: The one true answer to everything?
A: Yeah, exactly. I always considered it to be insulting (condescending?), but it actually happened to me with one of my friends, so that inspired "Halo". Whenever I had to deal with him he acted as if he wore this halo above his head, creating this sentiment of inferiority, that I'm no longer on the same level as him. He was completely infused with this notion."
I just read an old interview with Steve Wilson on a german music website. Asked about this song he says this (translation by me, annotations in brackets):
Question: It says "God is in my fingers god is in my head" on a track from your new album. Delusions of grandeur?
Answer: This is from "Halo", which is one of the songs that I've written throughout the last years and that centers around forms of organized religion. I am not a big fan of organized religion. In this special case, the text speaks(?) from the perspective of a person who is self-righteous concerning his religion. The king of guy, who tries to tell you that his life is better, because of his faith founding some kind of superiority you do not have. (i am not sure if this is translated accurate. he said that the person believes their faith founds superiority) One of my former friends converted to the Reborn Christians. It is difficult to keep up a friendship with these people after they passed over into "another world". They start to patronize you, because they belive to have something you do not: faith, knowledge...
Question: The answer to everything?
Answer: Yeah, exactly. I always perceived that as insulting, but it happened to me and my friend and thus inspired "Halo". Whenever i had to deal with him, he acted as if he walked a halo. (difficult to translate: the german interview makes a wordplay with "walk a dog") He made me feel as if i wasn't on the same level as he was. He was full of that conviction. (i am really uncertain about this - literally it says: "he was infused with this conviction/belief")
If anyone speaks german or wants to try babelfish or something like this, here is the link: http://www.laut.de/vorlaut/interviews/2005/03/04/11660/index.htm
"kind of guy" - obviously
"kind of guy" - obviously
You actually had a pretty good translation to begin with, but I wanted to give it a try myself (native German speaker). Turns out to be quite challenging to hit exactly the right "tone", especially given that the original interview was likely conducted in English and has thus been translated twice!
You actually had a pretty good translation to begin with, but I wanted to give it a try myself (native German speaker). Turns out to be quite challenging to hit exactly the right "tone", especially given that the original interview was likely conducted in English and has thus been translated twice!
"Q: In one of he tracks on your new album it says "God is in my fingers god is in my head". Illusions of grandeur?
"Q: In one of he tracks on your new album it says "God is in my fingers god is in my head". Illusions of grandeur?
A: That's from "Halo", one of those songs I've written over the years which deals with organized religion. I...
A: That's from "Halo", one of those songs I've written over the years which deals with organized religion. I am not a big fan of organized religion. In this particular case the lyrics are written from the point of view of a very self-rightous man as far as his religion is concerned. The type of person that would have you believe their life has improved because of their faith, something to justify a kind of smug superiority over you. One of my former friends became a Born-Again Christian. It is very hard to maintain a friendship with these kind of people after they step into "another world". They start patronizing you because they believe to possess something that you don't: Faith, Knowledge, etc.
Q: The one true answer to everything?
A: Yeah, exactly. I always considered it to be insulting (condescending?), but it actually happened to me with one of my friends, so that inspired "Halo". Whenever I had to deal with him he acted as if he wore this halo above his head, creating this sentiment of inferiority, that I'm no longer on the same level as him. He was completely infused with this notion."
Cheers, Gunnar