I think this song is about lighting a candle and accepting the death of a loved one you didnt get along with. Rufus being gay faced im sure hostility, as all LGBTQ+ people do, even from family members. I dont know too much about his personal relationships other than what his wiki article stated, with him and his parents never really talking about his sexuality: 'Wainwright later said in another interview that his "mother and father could not even handle me being gay. We never talked about it really."' His father is still alive, but his mother died in 2010, 2 years before the release of this song. The article does mention several of his songs have been written about family members as well.
Rufus does all he can to make up for the rocky relationship he has had with this person that was never resolved before their death.
Then one day in the cathedral
I finally lit you a candle
And all along the vaulted halls
The virgins did smile from their mantles
It’s always just that little bit more
That doesn’t get you what you’re looking for
But gets you where you need to go
The Gods have smiled down upon his kind action and even though he wasnt able to resolve the conflict while the person was living, this action has helped him move on, forgive himself, and "gets you where you need to go"
I could be completely wrong but there has been other comments thus far on a fantastic and haunting song and thought I would get the conversation started
I think this song is about lighting a candle and accepting the death of a loved one you didnt get along with. Rufus being gay faced im sure hostility, as all LGBTQ+ people do, even from family members. I dont know too much about his personal relationships other than what his wiki article stated, with him and his parents never really talking about his sexuality: 'Wainwright later said in another interview that his "mother and father could not even handle me being gay. We never talked about it really."' His father is still alive, but his mother died in 2010, 2 years before the release of this song. The article does mention several of his songs have been written about family members as well.
Rufus does all he can to make up for the rocky relationship he has had with this person that was never resolved before their death.
Then one day in the cathedral I finally lit you a candle And all along the vaulted halls The virgins did smile from their mantles
It’s always just that little bit more That doesn’t get you what you’re looking for But gets you where you need to go
The Gods have smiled down upon his kind action and even though he wasnt able to resolve the conflict while the person was living, this action has helped him move on, forgive himself, and "gets you where you need to go"
I could be completely wrong but there has been other comments thus far on a fantastic and haunting song and thought I would get the conversation started