I agree, he's going to die and he's saying goodbye to all the people in his life. I think Émile is his best friend/'partner in crime'. The person with whom he drank the same wine, courted the same girls, and shared the same sorrows.
Antoine would be his enemy (I mean, come on, he actually says 'I didn't like you a lot', which could be taken to mean 'I hated you'), perhaps even his woman's lover (in which case one of the lines should read 'cause look/we saw that you were HER lover).
The last verses are obviously his wife or girlfriend.
I agree, he's going to die and he's saying goodbye to all the people in his life. I think Émile is his best friend/'partner in crime'. The person with whom he drank the same wine, courted the same girls, and shared the same sorrows.
I think Curé is his priest. They followed vastly different paths through life, but both wanted the same fate in the end (i.e. heaven).
Antoine would be his enemy (I mean, come on, he actually says 'I didn't like you a lot', which could be taken to mean 'I hated you'), perhaps even his woman's lover (in which case one of the lines should read 'cause look/we saw that you were HER lover).
The last verses are obviously his wife or girlfriend.
Just my take on this amazing song.