I actually believe there to be too many religious connotations for it to be purely coincidental, unless of course the whole song is an extended metaphor (a conceit). Therefore I'm interpreting the song more literally - the narrator is conversing with God, expressing his/her disillusion with the lack of an imminent response from "above", so to speak.
Or to put it simply, shit happens, we pray to God and atone for our sins, and shit still happens.
Just to highlight a few lines which I think conveys my ideas:
'I'll be a martyr for your indifference'
'We want guarantees, not hunger pains / But starvation just won't subside'
Bitterly, the narrator accuses God of being detached from the human condition, and notes that people have died in the name of Him in spite of this.
And the chorus:
'Somewhere between the penance and the patience / You drift away with every word they say / Somewhere between the penance and the patience / I think we've lost our way'
The narrator describes losing faith - preforming the rituals, and waiting for a sign that he/she has been "saved", or that he/she is not wasting their time with something that seems less and less real.
Finally:
'In every room that we walk in / The walls are skin and they're writhing'
Now, this one's a little tricky, but personally, I believe this line is nice way of describing human frailty and our sort of transient, searching nature. We're only skin, and it's soft, penetrable, pliant and itching, separately and all at once! It isn't a strong wall - we make mistakes, we fall down and hurt, we change our minds and bodies, and we're always seeking for something that it seems we're missing. It's a beautiful lyric.
I love how everyone can get such a different take on the same song. Very inspiring words, CIM!
I actually believe there to be too many religious connotations for it to be purely coincidental, unless of course the whole song is an extended metaphor (a conceit). Therefore I'm interpreting the song more literally - the narrator is conversing with God, expressing his/her disillusion with the lack of an imminent response from "above", so to speak.
Or to put it simply, shit happens, we pray to God and atone for our sins, and shit still happens.
Just to highlight a few lines which I think conveys my ideas: 'I'll be a martyr for your indifference' 'We want guarantees, not hunger pains / But starvation just won't subside' Bitterly, the narrator accuses God of being detached from the human condition, and notes that people have died in the name of Him in spite of this.
And the chorus: 'Somewhere between the penance and the patience / You drift away with every word they say / Somewhere between the penance and the patience / I think we've lost our way' The narrator describes losing faith - preforming the rituals, and waiting for a sign that he/she has been "saved", or that he/she is not wasting their time with something that seems less and less real.
Finally: 'In every room that we walk in / The walls are skin and they're writhing' Now, this one's a little tricky, but personally, I believe this line is nice way of describing human frailty and our sort of transient, searching nature. We're only skin, and it's soft, penetrable, pliant and itching, separately and all at once! It isn't a strong wall - we make mistakes, we fall down and hurt, we change our minds and bodies, and we're always seeking for something that it seems we're missing. It's a beautiful lyric.
I love how everyone can get such a different take on the same song. Very inspiring words, CIM!