Crimson King

As others have already pointed out, this is about "The Man in Black" (aka Randall Flagg, aka Walter O'Dim) in Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series. As has also been pointed out, the title is a bid misleading, as Flagg is actually a minion of the actual Crimson King. I think the title should have been the same as the album, "Touched By the Crimson king", as that would make more sense.

Anyway, for people who haven't read through the whole series, please skip the rest of my comments, and they will include spoilers. For those who have but may be confused about the lyrics, here's my interpretation:

//My right hands, my servants //My soldiers, my tools //Spread out the good news //Find my children and gather them all //We'll take all low men //All the hatred, evil souls //We share one desire //A wicked one as you may know

Flagg (The Man in Black) is a right hand man for the Crimson King. He is a force of pure evil and chaos, and draws all "evil" people to him to do his bidding, which isactually the bidding of the Crimson King. The Dark Tower is a physical manifestation of the lynch pin of reality, but also all that is good in the multiverse. The CK seeks to destroy it to become a god,and part of the process os throwing different worlds in strife and disarray, which is why Flagg wants the command of all the terrible people.

In the first book of the series, Roland (the Gunslinger) chases the MiB. He knows in his heart, thanks to a mystical force called "Ka", that Flagg holds answers that can help him reach The Dark Tower("I am the key, I am the door"). Flagg does have truth but within that truth is deep sadness for Roland ("I am holding truth release your sadness"). I won't spoil what that is, but it has a significant impact on Roland's character development and the plot as a whole. cough Jake cough

I think the following verses all reference the palaver that Roland held with the MiB at the end of book 1. During their chat, he MiB tried to break Rolan'd mind by showing him the size and expanse of the universe, and in doing so, showing Roland how infinitesimal and unimportant he was. These verses also reference another concept in the series, that Roland's journey is pre-ordained and infinite, and the MiB's fate is bound to the Gunslinger's ("Prophecies were made of you and I").
//The universe is void //Just you and I //Let there be light //The stars will rise //Then fall again //Climbing to the top //An empty room //Is all there is //Oh I fear it is //Prophecies were made of you and I /The vision's strong //But meanwhile keep on falling //Oh what a miracle is life //An even bigger one is size //It's just the way it is //I fear it is //It's just the way it is

//"Life's a wheel nothing more //It goes round and around and a…" If you reached the end of book 7 and kept reading past the warning, then you know that Roland's quest to reach the top of The Dark Tower to sing out the names of all of his lost loved ones has happened before...many, many times before, and may happen endlessly. When Roland reaches the top of the tower and goes through the door, he goes back to where he started in the very firsts sentence of the first book, literally. His whole existence is a wheel of endlessly questing for the tower, attaining it, and then starting again, with no memory.