The first thing to note about this song is how hauntingly beautiful yet elegant and simple it is. As for my interpretation of the lyrics, they contain the lovely syntax and poetry characteristic of Peter Liddle and DtR; this song is full of biblical references of course, while making religious iconography ambiguous enough to apply to relationships/one's own life as well. Of course, the instrumentation and ethereal, Jeff Buckley-esque vocals of this track are so chillingly beautiful I have a hard time not tearing up, that's the kind of emotion I've become accustomed to DtR being able to summon with their music.
Anyway, the lyrics broken down to me go like this:
The Theme of Peace
Peace is referenced first in mention of an "olive in the arbor", the olive branch and tree being traditional symbols of peace.
[en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_branch] It is referred to directly in the verse where peace is once again skipped over.
Bible
Obadiah-
Bulrushes- likely referring to the famous Ark of the Bulrushes story (the papyrus boat that the baby Moses was discovered in).
Weeping Statues- Though they usually weep blood, and I can't seem to find any stories of them weeping milk (I rule out the Milk Miracle of India being the origin of this lyric, because there was no statue weeping)
Snakes in the Roof- A common place where unwanted snakes to come into contact with people, the snake, which is of course [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpent_%28Bible%29]
Whisper the Parse- My best guess is that, the definition of parse could be vaguely seen as "the process of analysing a string of symbols", and in the context of the song this means that the Serpents are whispering some malevolent and unknowable future by knowing how to read the symbols.
The first thing to note about this song is how hauntingly beautiful yet elegant and simple it is. As for my interpretation of the lyrics, they contain the lovely syntax and poetry characteristic of Peter Liddle and DtR; this song is full of biblical references of course, while making religious iconography ambiguous enough to apply to relationships/one's own life as well. Of course, the instrumentation and ethereal, Jeff Buckley-esque vocals of this track are so chillingly beautiful I have a hard time not tearing up, that's the kind of emotion I've become accustomed to DtR being able to summon with their music.
Anyway, the lyrics broken down to me go like this:
The Theme of Peace Peace is referenced first in mention of an "olive in the arbor", the olive branch and tree being traditional symbols of peace. [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_branch] It is referred to directly in the verse where peace is once again skipped over.
Bible
Obadiah-
Bulrushes- likely referring to the famous Ark of the Bulrushes story (the papyrus boat that the baby Moses was discovered in).
Weeping Statues- Though they usually weep blood, and I can't seem to find any stories of them weeping milk (I rule out the Milk Miracle of India being the origin of this lyric, because there was no statue weeping)
Turning Water to Wine- Jesus famously did this as a "miracle" [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeping_statue]
Tasted the Fruit- [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_fruit]
Snakes in the Roof- A common place where unwanted snakes to come into contact with people, the snake, which is of course [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpent_%28Bible%29]
Whisper the Parse- My best guess is that, the definition of parse could be vaguely seen as "the process of analysing a string of symbols", and in the context of the song this means that the Serpents are whispering some malevolent and unknowable future by knowing how to read the symbols.
To Be Continued...