Great work all. Cave is a master of metaphor and it is good to see so many people care about what he is actually trying to say.
While there are many themes in the song, the predominant one uses guilt and innocence to explore the objectivity of truth. In this regard it is greatly influenced by books such as "The Outsider" and Crime and punishment. The "I begin to chill to objects and their fields" line is taken straight from Dostoevsky.
From our characters view, having denounced mans right to judge him, God is the paradigm of truth, and the song explores the implications of such belief with great depth and subtle precision.
The uncertainty of his actions and and as such why he would commit them if they were wrong or unjust, leads to the analogies with Jesus, who is the ultimate victim of his own fate.
It is fitting that as the song begins to reach it's climax and his disdain becomes bolder that he picks the wedding band, a symbol of Gods holiest institution on earth, as the shackle of his rebel blood, life and spirit, which is suggestive of a truth he can't explore, indicating the fallacy of his God.
The last line "I'm afraid I told a lie" is not a submission of guilt, it simply sums up a fearful yet enduring uncertainty on all matters, as he is not sure of guilt or innocence or god or truth or any other yardsticks, right or ability, to measure his supposed crime.
Cash's version is of a different flavor, his emphasis put on haunting nobility, a beat prince trudging towards a destined fate in almost heroic fashion, while Cage focuses on the subjective, with dark, all too human, undertones creeping through the prose. Which makes it, lyrically at least, a far more interesting work.
great post, i didn't realise there was a 2nd page when writing mine. Yours has, i believe, far more insight than mine. I can definitely see the comparisons and similarities to "the outsider".
great post, i didn't realise there was a 2nd page when writing mine. Yours has, i believe, far more insight than mine. I can definitely see the comparisons and similarities to "the outsider".
Great work all. Cave is a master of metaphor and it is good to see so many people care about what he is actually trying to say.
While there are many themes in the song, the predominant one uses guilt and innocence to explore the objectivity of truth. In this regard it is greatly influenced by books such as "The Outsider" and Crime and punishment. The "I begin to chill to objects and their fields" line is taken straight from Dostoevsky.
From our characters view, having denounced mans right to judge him, God is the paradigm of truth, and the song explores the implications of such belief with great depth and subtle precision. The uncertainty of his actions and and as such why he would commit them if they were wrong or unjust, leads to the analogies with Jesus, who is the ultimate victim of his own fate. It is fitting that as the song begins to reach it's climax and his disdain becomes bolder that he picks the wedding band, a symbol of Gods holiest institution on earth, as the shackle of his rebel blood, life and spirit, which is suggestive of a truth he can't explore, indicating the fallacy of his God.
The last line "I'm afraid I told a lie" is not a submission of guilt, it simply sums up a fearful yet enduring uncertainty on all matters, as he is not sure of guilt or innocence or god or truth or any other yardsticks, right or ability, to measure his supposed crime.
Cash's version is of a different flavor, his emphasis put on haunting nobility, a beat prince trudging towards a destined fate in almost heroic fashion, while Cage focuses on the subjective, with dark, all too human, undertones creeping through the prose. Which makes it, lyrically at least, a far more interesting work.
great post, i didn't realise there was a 2nd page when writing mine. Yours has, i believe, far more insight than mine. I can definitely see the comparisons and similarities to "the outsider".
great post, i didn't realise there was a 2nd page when writing mine. Yours has, i believe, far more insight than mine. I can definitely see the comparisons and similarities to "the outsider".