I see this song as a simultaneous rejection of Christian religion but also the celebration of self and the determination to see past the rules and regulations of institutions stuck in the past.
"I found out on close inspection / True imperfection" This refers to thinking for oneself, analyzing how a lot of Christian religions work, and realizing they're based on guilt and fear rather than joy and discovering the divine in oneself.
"... you cannot see / That life and living are not free" Here the narrator tells the religious person, essentially, "Your doctrine makes it all so easy -- follow this rule book to the letter, and you'll go to heaven. Well, my friend, it's a lot more complex than that."
"I took the word, the word was resurrection" This could not be a more obvious reference to Jesus Christ.
"Kissing the spires" is a reference to a Christian church steeple. "Souls on fire" is another reference to the fear- and guilt-based ways Christianity aims to keep its people in line.
The final section is a smackdown to the rituals of confession and communion. Ultimately, though, when the person representing Christian religion leaves, the narrator takes the wine and does his own type of confession. I see that not as a reference to replacing religion with the self-medication of alcohol, but rather using some of the tools and tenets of religion to one's own ends while rejecting the ones that no longer work. When he sings "start confessing," he acknowledges that life is complex and people have things they must face and, sometimes, atone for.
Overall, the song has such a positive feeling to it, unlike some of the darker Bunnymen songs on "Porcupine" and "Heaven Up Here" (which I still love, but in a different way).
I see this song as a simultaneous rejection of Christian religion but also the celebration of self and the determination to see past the rules and regulations of institutions stuck in the past.
"I found out on close inspection / True imperfection" This refers to thinking for oneself, analyzing how a lot of Christian religions work, and realizing they're based on guilt and fear rather than joy and discovering the divine in oneself.
"... you cannot see / That life and living are not free" Here the narrator tells the religious person, essentially, "Your doctrine makes it all so easy -- follow this rule book to the letter, and you'll go to heaven. Well, my friend, it's a lot more complex than that."
"I took the word, the word was resurrection" This could not be a more obvious reference to Jesus Christ.
"Kissing the spires" is a reference to a Christian church steeple. "Souls on fire" is another reference to the fear- and guilt-based ways Christianity aims to keep its people in line.
The final section is a smackdown to the rituals of confession and communion. Ultimately, though, when the person representing Christian religion leaves, the narrator takes the wine and does his own type of confession. I see that not as a reference to replacing religion with the self-medication of alcohol, but rather using some of the tools and tenets of religion to one's own ends while rejecting the ones that no longer work. When he sings "start confessing," he acknowledges that life is complex and people have things they must face and, sometimes, atone for.
Overall, the song has such a positive feeling to it, unlike some of the darker Bunnymen songs on "Porcupine" and "Heaven Up Here" (which I still love, but in a different way).