Lyric discussion by IqbalHamid 

I am trying to decipher this myself. Here are bits of what I can gather so far:

Scratches on walls in a room - suggest being inside a prison

Your islands are conquered and you are returned To the throne - I'm stating the obvious here, but this points to a defeated King who had subsequently ben imprisoned, we have examples of this from our (UK) history. There are a few imprisoned monarchs that this could refer to.

Martyrs take penance and fill up the mattress With stones Pull straws with holy men Could these lines be biblical references?

Build up great railways that run through the horns of the moon Hold up a city with cast-iron museum walls Explain your machines to the boys feed them with tools Bring out the skill in your skin polish your hair -Reference to industrial age in Britain, perhaps?

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