To me the narrator is a religious figure, a prophet/bishop/pastor/father whatever, and is very successfully convincing someone in a very vulnerable place to join his sect (and possibly his bed). Being an American and knowing the very charismatic leaders of various Christian sects here and that tactics they use I can't help but think of some televangelist or an old southern Baptist preacher. It's hitting all the main beats that someone would do to convince a vulnerable person to join a religion or cult.
"I can feel your presence amongst us/You cannot hide in the darkness"
They start off sweet, caring and seemingly omniscient and subtly acknowledges they are in a bad place.
"I know your soul is not tainted/Even though you've been told so"
This is the narrator essentially saying "I'm not like the other religions you've tried in your life, telling you you're worthless, I can feel you're actually very special, come with me"
Through the chorus he continues to woo the person, in my head it's a woman, and now they're officially a part of the cult. The repetition of using phrases that both lift this person up and tearing them down causes the person to subconsciously seek this person's constant approval, to the point where he convinces her to sleep with him
"A candle casting a faint glow/You and I see eye to eye
Now there is nothing between us/From now our merge is eternal
Can’t you see that you’re lost?/Can’t you see that you’re lost without me?"
From now our merge is eternal to me is him saying you are now forever mine, I can do whatever I want with you, you are powerless to me.
Think of the narrator as some sort of Charles Manson type of person, through charisma and abuse is able to manipulate people to do things they probably wouldn't have done before. Because of the band and how they look I'll always see a correlation to religion they're trying to make, implying many of these religions use the same abusive manipulation tactics on weak minded and vulnerable people as cult leaders do, they if you don't see that I understand it's a stretch since there's no real mention of religion at all in this song. It's essentially about abuse that, in my opinion, relates to religion
To me the narrator is a religious figure, a prophet/bishop/pastor/father whatever, and is very successfully convincing someone in a very vulnerable place to join his sect (and possibly his bed). Being an American and knowing the very charismatic leaders of various Christian sects here and that tactics they use I can't help but think of some televangelist or an old southern Baptist preacher. It's hitting all the main beats that someone would do to convince a vulnerable person to join a religion or cult.
"I can feel your presence amongst us/You cannot hide in the darkness" They start off sweet, caring and seemingly omniscient and subtly acknowledges they are in a bad place.
"I know your soul is not tainted/Even though you've been told so" This is the narrator essentially saying "I'm not like the other religions you've tried in your life, telling you you're worthless, I can feel you're actually very special, come with me"
Through the chorus he continues to woo the person, in my head it's a woman, and now they're officially a part of the cult. The repetition of using phrases that both lift this person up and tearing them down causes the person to subconsciously seek this person's constant approval, to the point where he convinces her to sleep with him
"A candle casting a faint glow/You and I see eye to eye Now there is nothing between us/From now our merge is eternal Can’t you see that you’re lost?/Can’t you see that you’re lost without me?"
From now our merge is eternal to me is him saying you are now forever mine, I can do whatever I want with you, you are powerless to me.
Think of the narrator as some sort of Charles Manson type of person, through charisma and abuse is able to manipulate people to do things they probably wouldn't have done before. Because of the band and how they look I'll always see a correlation to religion they're trying to make, implying many of these religions use the same abusive manipulation tactics on weak minded and vulnerable people as cult leaders do, they if you don't see that I understand it's a stretch since there's no real mention of religion at all in this song. It's essentially about abuse that, in my opinion, relates to religion