This is of course ambigious (all the best songs are) but in my take on this, the key line is 'And I seen that girl as the road to my survival.'
Latching onto the happy-clappy, Pentecostal community is a smart move for someone struggling so hard. So Simon leaves it ambigious - is it his viriginty that's taken, or is he going along (or surely not, converted! - it's not clear) by a laying on of hands, giving of the spirit.
I experienced Pentecostal Christianity in my late teens and it was as intoxicating as sex (and, indeed, often accompanied by it - a gift from the Lord!).
A young man, struggling, finds hope, direction, and love in the Pentecost - and sings for joy. His true, deep, response to it is hidden - is it real, is he acting, is the joy for real or is he faking it to survive? Maybe even he doesn't know.
This is of course ambigious (all the best songs are) but in my take on this, the key line is 'And I seen that girl as the road to my survival.'
Latching onto the happy-clappy, Pentecostal community is a smart move for someone struggling so hard. So Simon leaves it ambigious - is it his viriginty that's taken, or is he going along (or surely not, converted! - it's not clear) by a laying on of hands, giving of the spirit.
I experienced Pentecostal Christianity in my late teens and it was as intoxicating as sex (and, indeed, often accompanied by it - a gift from the Lord!).
A young man, struggling, finds hope, direction, and love in the Pentecost - and sings for joy. His true, deep, response to it is hidden - is it real, is he acting, is the joy for real or is he faking it to survive? Maybe even he doesn't know.