Not sure the song is 'about' anything. Kustom 22 was close. What this song is, is a prayer. The hit bottom, gutter-wallowing, soul-wrenched plea for help to God from someone at the end of their rope. The 'ball and chain' can be anything, gambling, sex, you name it. For Mike Ness it was drugs and alcohol.
Something to ponder is that I firmly believe God listens to prayers like this a whole lot more than He does to the vapid, empty prayers full of 'thous' and 'thines' of some fat pedophile Bishop in flowing robes.
Yes indeed, this is an extremely spiritual and insightful song.
@duhaast
I agree with the basics of what you say here. But I also think the lyrics of this song do very specifically express alcohol as the "demon" of the tale. I do not think this is any deep nuanced tale, but rather more a typically sad country/western song where the narrator feels guilty (because he/she is guilty, in this case) and, in this guilt, he/she does not so much seek any kind of redemption or even imagine the potential for it, but rather, looks to have his/her (suggestively, self-imposed) pain taken away (which is typically achieved by death...
@duhaast
I agree with the basics of what you say here. But I also think the lyrics of this song do very specifically express alcohol as the "demon" of the tale. I do not think this is any deep nuanced tale, but rather more a typically sad country/western song where the narrator feels guilty (because he/she is guilty, in this case) and, in this guilt, he/she does not so much seek any kind of redemption or even imagine the potential for it, but rather, looks to have his/her (suggestively, self-imposed) pain taken away (which is typically achieved by death and there is some suggestion that is the narrator's desire here, such as with "never to return" and "born to lose/destined to fail")
So, while I agree with your statement that God (or at least, the more decent sort of God) would listen to this person's woe story and be moved more than by the inherent deceit of the priesthood's prayer, even so, I don't think the lyrics speaks in that direction. And the author is also on record sufficiently to conclude that was not part of the intent.
@duhaast true I agree I made this same point at a youth group thing once. A prayer is meant to be a true talk with God from the heart an empty prayer is not a true prayer this is why Jesus condemn pointless repetition in the Bible not that all prayers that are repeated are bad but that you cannot just chant something and not mean it, it needs to have substance the words need to come from the heart. To say “Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me a sinner” a hundred times without knowing what...
@duhaast true I agree I made this same point at a youth group thing once. A prayer is meant to be a true talk with God from the heart an empty prayer is not a true prayer this is why Jesus condemn pointless repetition in the Bible not that all prayers that are repeated are bad but that you cannot just chant something and not mean it, it needs to have substance the words need to come from the heart. To say “Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me a sinner” a hundred times without knowing what you are asking God to have mercy on you for is nothing compared to truly knowing what you are asking for mercy for and repenting. Not that the Jesus prayer, Hail Mary, Our Father, or any other well known prayer with “things” and “thous” is bad in fact all three of those listed are taken directly from scripture. Once when I was in Confession my Priest said to say for my Penance one Our Father, slowly and taking in all the words I am saying. The Our Father is a great prayer to say even to repeat or say in Latin if you know what you are saying. It’s a prayer praising God, asking to do His will, asking for forgiveness while simultaneously forgiving others, and finally asking Him to deliver us from evil like temptation. Words meant to be spoken from the heart not just spoken. It’s like the Sound of Silence lyric “people talking without speaking”. Anyways I agree with you but just had to defend prayers that had thine and thou in them. It’s sad that many people today don’t know how to truly pray even religious people who just repeat the prayers that had been taught to them without caring to know what they truly mean or praying from the heart.
Not sure the song is 'about' anything. Kustom 22 was close. What this song is, is a prayer. The hit bottom, gutter-wallowing, soul-wrenched plea for help to God from someone at the end of their rope. The 'ball and chain' can be anything, gambling, sex, you name it. For Mike Ness it was drugs and alcohol.
Something to ponder is that I firmly believe God listens to prayers like this a whole lot more than He does to the vapid, empty prayers full of 'thous' and 'thines' of some fat pedophile Bishop in flowing robes.
Yes indeed, this is an extremely spiritual and insightful song.
@duhaast I agree with the basics of what you say here. But I also think the lyrics of this song do very specifically express alcohol as the "demon" of the tale. I do not think this is any deep nuanced tale, but rather more a typically sad country/western song where the narrator feels guilty (because he/she is guilty, in this case) and, in this guilt, he/she does not so much seek any kind of redemption or even imagine the potential for it, but rather, looks to have his/her (suggestively, self-imposed) pain taken away (which is typically achieved by death...
@duhaast I agree with the basics of what you say here. But I also think the lyrics of this song do very specifically express alcohol as the "demon" of the tale. I do not think this is any deep nuanced tale, but rather more a typically sad country/western song where the narrator feels guilty (because he/she is guilty, in this case) and, in this guilt, he/she does not so much seek any kind of redemption or even imagine the potential for it, but rather, looks to have his/her (suggestively, self-imposed) pain taken away (which is typically achieved by death and there is some suggestion that is the narrator's desire here, such as with "never to return" and "born to lose/destined to fail")
So, while I agree with your statement that God (or at least, the more decent sort of God) would listen to this person's woe story and be moved more than by the inherent deceit of the priesthood's prayer, even so, I don't think the lyrics speaks in that direction. And the author is also on record sufficiently to conclude that was not part of the intent.
@duhaast true I agree I made this same point at a youth group thing once. A prayer is meant to be a true talk with God from the heart an empty prayer is not a true prayer this is why Jesus condemn pointless repetition in the Bible not that all prayers that are repeated are bad but that you cannot just chant something and not mean it, it needs to have substance the words need to come from the heart. To say “Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me a sinner” a hundred times without knowing what...
@duhaast true I agree I made this same point at a youth group thing once. A prayer is meant to be a true talk with God from the heart an empty prayer is not a true prayer this is why Jesus condemn pointless repetition in the Bible not that all prayers that are repeated are bad but that you cannot just chant something and not mean it, it needs to have substance the words need to come from the heart. To say “Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me a sinner” a hundred times without knowing what you are asking God to have mercy on you for is nothing compared to truly knowing what you are asking for mercy for and repenting. Not that the Jesus prayer, Hail Mary, Our Father, or any other well known prayer with “things” and “thous” is bad in fact all three of those listed are taken directly from scripture. Once when I was in Confession my Priest said to say for my Penance one Our Father, slowly and taking in all the words I am saying. The Our Father is a great prayer to say even to repeat or say in Latin if you know what you are saying. It’s a prayer praising God, asking to do His will, asking for forgiveness while simultaneously forgiving others, and finally asking Him to deliver us from evil like temptation. Words meant to be spoken from the heart not just spoken. It’s like the Sound of Silence lyric “people talking without speaking”. Anyways I agree with you but just had to defend prayers that had thine and thou in them. It’s sad that many people today don’t know how to truly pray even religious people who just repeat the prayers that had been taught to them without caring to know what they truly mean or praying from the heart.