There is the double meaning of Catherine's Wheel both being a firework and a torturing instrument. Catherine's wheel seems also to refer to the round shape of a vinyl record here. With that in mind I understand this as an ode to the nerve wrecking thrill of being a musician, hoping for success very badly. The success here is impersonated by "her", whom the lyrical person is longing for. And he knows that he stands at the crossroad of either going to the sparkling and shining world of success or experiencing the torturing experience of fading to darkness and becoming a forgotten sound.
There is the double meaning of Catherine's Wheel both being a firework and a torturing instrument. Catherine's wheel seems also to refer to the round shape of a vinyl record here. With that in mind I understand this as an ode to the nerve wrecking thrill of being a musician, hoping for success very badly. The success here is impersonated by "her", whom the lyrical person is longing for. And he knows that he stands at the crossroad of either going to the sparkling and shining world of success or experiencing the torturing experience of fading to darkness and becoming a forgotten sound.