A truly great song, so relaxing and serene but at the same time so poignant. I don't think he is saying he is a prisoner in the physical sense, this song seems to be quite clearly about drug addiction so the prison is the use of the drug. To me this song is about the absolutism that drug taking provides, when ones life choices can suddenly be confined to 'where is the next hit coming from' and there are no other choices to be made. The need for an absolute truth in life is something all humans seek and drug taking can be an easy way to find a form of serenity without any effort. The same is true for religion (or any doctrine/belief) where many people rather than seek true knowledge would rather surrender to a series of absolutes that they don't need to question in order to make them comfortable with their existence. Drug taking just happens to be one of the easiest ways of eliminating uncertainty in life, which is what the person in this song seems to have achieved when he can acknowledge the prisoner he is but at the same time quite happily maintain the status quo.
A truly great song, so relaxing and serene but at the same time so poignant. I don't think he is saying he is a prisoner in the physical sense, this song seems to be quite clearly about drug addiction so the prison is the use of the drug. To me this song is about the absolutism that drug taking provides, when ones life choices can suddenly be confined to 'where is the next hit coming from' and there are no other choices to be made. The need for an absolute truth in life is something all humans seek and drug taking can be an easy way to find a form of serenity without any effort. The same is true for religion (or any doctrine/belief) where many people rather than seek true knowledge would rather surrender to a series of absolutes that they don't need to question in order to make them comfortable with their existence. Drug taking just happens to be one of the easiest ways of eliminating uncertainty in life, which is what the person in this song seems to have achieved when he can acknowledge the prisoner he is but at the same time quite happily maintain the status quo.