I see this as much more Cave confronting religious doubt within himself. Throughout the song he lists all the terrible things he sees in the world
"Rampant discrimination
Mass poverty, third world debt
Infectious disease, global inequality
And deepening socio-economic divisions"
and when he says:
Well, rosary clutched in his hand
He died with tubes up his nose
And a cabal of angels with finger cymbals
Chanted his name in code
We shook our fists at the punishing rain
And we called upon the author to explain
He is clearly talking about doubt caused from the slow (tubes up his nose) death of someone who means a lot to him. The "author" is also a name he gives to God, or the creator.
The line: "I feel like a vacuum cleaner a complete sucker!" is not only a brilliant analogy typical of Cave but also relates to him feeling that he feels has been conned by religion.
There are many other similar statments in the song, but in this context they appear to be less ambiguous and have a clearing meaning. This song is a different side of Cave rarely seen in his work, in that we see an essance of self doubt. Nevertheless, another genius peice of work.
I see this as much more Cave confronting religious doubt within himself. Throughout the song he lists all the terrible things he sees in the world
"Rampant discrimination Mass poverty, third world debt Infectious disease, global inequality And deepening socio-economic divisions"
and when he says:
Well, rosary clutched in his hand He died with tubes up his nose And a cabal of angels with finger cymbals Chanted his name in code We shook our fists at the punishing rain And we called upon the author to explain
He is clearly talking about doubt caused from the slow (tubes up his nose) death of someone who means a lot to him. The "author" is also a name he gives to God, or the creator.
The line: "I feel like a vacuum cleaner a complete sucker!" is not only a brilliant analogy typical of Cave but also relates to him feeling that he feels has been conned by religion.
There are many other similar statments in the song, but in this context they appear to be less ambiguous and have a clearing meaning. This song is a different side of Cave rarely seen in his work, in that we see an essance of self doubt. Nevertheless, another genius peice of work.