As for the meaning of the song it seems fairly clear to me that there's a message dealing with religion given that it talks about speaking in tongues, and specifically he includes in the chorus "i'm a-heading down, down, down
down to the river 'cause i don't believe in medicine" which is referring to faith healers/religious anti-vaccine people.
As for the meaning of the song it seems fairly clear to me that there's a message dealing with religion given that it talks about speaking in tongues, and specifically he includes in the chorus "i'm a-heading down, down, down down to the river 'cause i don't believe in medicine" which is referring to faith healers/religious anti-vaccine people.