Thank you for the request Eric. The song was good and very thought provoking. To me, I take it as a song about the struggles we go through in our daily lives. The lines “The Hand on the Bible lies, Maggots turn to flies, The whole world’s gone to hell, Mama’s back in jail.” suggest a sense of disillusionment with the institutions and systems that are meant to provide stability and justice. The metaphor of maggots turning to flies reflects the decay of our moral fabric. The lines “A snake will crawl the earth to shed its skin, To make more room for the poison, And the filthy rich will rob you clean, Until you raise your voices.” highlights the pervasive nature of corruption, greed, and the need for people to come together and stand up against it. Thanks for the reaction Don
Good to know about vevo. One of the reasons this song was requested is because I still don't fully get the meanings myself so was interested to hear your thoughts and what others might think. There are bits I get but others I'm uncertain about. I believe about the snake it's supposed to represent evil or the devil and by shedding its skin it's growing, making "more room for the poison", which I guess in this case may just be everything bad (the school shooting stuff, doctors writing scripts for addicts, abuse involving priests, greediness from the rich, etc). The part about the rebel, I'm not sure if that's supposed to have any religious meaning. Being the rebel in the context of the song makes it sound like they're rebelling against evil, but with the later lyric of "they're still both the devil" makes me think maybe the rebel here is the antichrist? He does start the song about the Bible and there's the lyric of "as I lay me down" which might be referencing the famous bedtime prayer. There's also the line of "spare the rod" which again could be referring to the Bible.
Thank you for the request Eric. The song was good and very thought provoking. To me, I take it as a song about the struggles we go through in our daily lives. The lines “The Hand on the Bible lies, Maggots turn to flies, The whole world’s gone to hell, Mama’s back in jail.” suggest a sense of disillusionment with the institutions and systems that are meant to provide stability and justice. The metaphor of maggots turning to flies reflects the decay of our moral fabric. The lines “A snake will crawl the earth to shed its skin, To make more room for the poison, And the filthy rich will rob you clean, Until you raise your voices.” highlights the pervasive nature of corruption, greed, and the need for people to come together and stand up against it. Thanks for the reaction Don
@jcat__ Solid analysis right there!
His whole album is awesome
He’s the best songwriters i’ve come across in a very long while.
Thank you Eric, quite a mind bender. I agree with Jeff's analysis. Thanks for the insightful reaction Don.
Bro SWJ is amazing! His song "patches" is a must hear! Thanks man!
Best album in over a decade. SWJr is a legend.
A 10 in my opinion... awesome story teller.❤
Good to know about vevo. One of the reasons this song was requested is because I still don't fully get the meanings myself so was interested to hear your thoughts and what others might think. There are bits I get but others I'm uncertain about.
I believe about the snake it's supposed to represent evil or the devil and by shedding its skin it's growing, making "more room for the poison", which I guess in this case may just be everything bad (the school shooting stuff, doctors writing scripts for addicts, abuse involving priests, greediness from the rich, etc).
The part about the rebel, I'm not sure if that's supposed to have any religious meaning. Being the rebel in the context of the song makes it sound like they're rebelling against evil, but with the later lyric of "they're still both the devil" makes me think maybe the rebel here is the antichrist?
He does start the song about the Bible and there's the lyric of "as I lay me down" which might be referencing the famous bedtime prayer. There's also the line of "spare the rod" which again could be referring to the Bible.
The devil the one u know and the one u dont
Dude is a modern day John Prine