This is an incredibly deep and beautiful song. I think the main message can be summarized, but there is so much about it that goes beyond a simple summing up.
To me, the song is a spiritual/prayer about transitioning to death gently and compassionately and accepting death (giving up the ghost). It is begging "please don't hurt me" as I die in a kind of "pray the Lord my soul to keep" way. It is praying for care and compassion, to be protected and brought home ("into your arms"), whether that be as a soul or just a body decomposing back into the soil from where it came. "Gather up the lost and sold" (humanity) "into your arms" and be our keeper.
This is an incredibly deep and beautiful song. I think the main message can be summarized, but there is so much about it that goes beyond a simple summing up.
To me, the song is a spiritual/prayer about transitioning to death gently and compassionately and accepting death (giving up the ghost). It is begging "please don't hurt me" as I die in a kind of "pray the Lord my soul to keep" way. It is praying for care and compassion, to be protected and brought home ("into your arms"), whether that be as a soul or just a body decomposing back into the soil from where it came. "Gather up the lost and sold" (humanity) "into your arms" and be our keeper.