I believe the song is directed towards the singer's Catholic lover, who is filled with guilt and self-loathing over their relationship (I always picture a same-sex relationship when I hear it, but the guilt could stem from pre-marital sex, or one of them could be married.)
The singer's lover is locked in a cycle of hating himself during the day, but breaking down and returning to the singer in the evening. Rather than break up with his lover or telling him to get over his religious hang-ups, the singer just embraces them and tells him to go to confession first thing in the morning so he can feel okay about himself during the day, after and until he inevitably returns to the singer. Basically, the singer is telling his lover to go through the motions of rejecting him so they can keep seeing each other without the singer's lover tearing himself up.
I also see the "meander from this cave" as a socrates reference -- basically saying that eventually his lover will see the world as it really is and that his hang-ups aren't necessary, but that confession will be a band-aid until them.
I believe the song is directed towards the singer's Catholic lover, who is filled with guilt and self-loathing over their relationship (I always picture a same-sex relationship when I hear it, but the guilt could stem from pre-marital sex, or one of them could be married.)
The singer's lover is locked in a cycle of hating himself during the day, but breaking down and returning to the singer in the evening. Rather than break up with his lover or telling him to get over his religious hang-ups, the singer just embraces them and tells him to go to confession first thing in the morning so he can feel okay about himself during the day, after and until he inevitably returns to the singer. Basically, the singer is telling his lover to go through the motions of rejecting him so they can keep seeing each other without the singer's lover tearing himself up.
I also see the "meander from this cave" as a socrates reference -- basically saying that eventually his lover will see the world as it really is and that his hang-ups aren't necessary, but that confession will be a band-aid until them.
Overall, a beautiful song.