the song is clearly about sin and justice. The religious context is imminent due to the reference to Christ's crown of thorns.
The lyrics work in two temporal dimensions: the present and the thought about the past.
Verse One describes his thoughts in the present. Him trying to hide from sin, to prevent him from sinning, which implicates he has sinned before, probably recently. The intensity of his countermeasures indicate a big transgression.
Verse two holds his thoughts about the past. There's justification ("the pull on the flesh was just too strong") on the one and confession ("I breathe a lie") on the other side which entails action (stop breathing). lying plays a big part in that verse, but he is willing to sacrifice a lot for honesty.
verse three grants him grace (not speaking of the sins he committed) but also charging him with guilt (there was a way out)
this verse and the following may work in two different ways: as a dialogue with god, who forgives him due to his sins, bcs he knows he couldn't known (mirror) or as self-reproach, in which he argues with his conscience. Both approaches would make sens and it's just a matter of how religious you want to read it.
Verse five harks back to verse one: as he won't be the chosen one, he won't wear the broken crown. Again this can be read in a religious context, as a statements towards a mythical tempter like a devil-figure and the broken crown as an inverted Jesus-metaphor. But it may also be read as a statement to a concrete physical person, may it be a tempter or a consoler. Again it can also be read as an inner struggle with his conscience and his mind.
He knows that whatever he did, the road he went down, the path he chose, was wrong and that he failed big time. Feeling doubtful and not worth deserving anything but pain, he can't accept grace, because it's just not that easy for him.
The different ending to the reprise of the verse at end leads not to acceptance but to realization: he can't change what happened. he can't forgive himself. but he will keep in mind to choose the right road next time, because now, when there's no pull on his flash, he CAN choose and he knows about the consequences of his choices.
the song is clearly about sin and justice. The religious context is imminent due to the reference to Christ's crown of thorns.
The lyrics work in two temporal dimensions: the present and the thought about the past.
Verse One describes his thoughts in the present. Him trying to hide from sin, to prevent him from sinning, which implicates he has sinned before, probably recently. The intensity of his countermeasures indicate a big transgression.
Verse two holds his thoughts about the past. There's justification ("the pull on the flesh was just too strong") on the one and confession ("I breathe a lie") on the other side which entails action (stop breathing). lying plays a big part in that verse, but he is willing to sacrifice a lot for honesty.
verse three grants him grace (not speaking of the sins he committed) but also charging him with guilt (there was a way out) this verse and the following may work in two different ways: as a dialogue with god, who forgives him due to his sins, bcs he knows he couldn't known (mirror) or as self-reproach, in which he argues with his conscience. Both approaches would make sens and it's just a matter of how religious you want to read it.
Verse five harks back to verse one: as he won't be the chosen one, he won't wear the broken crown. Again this can be read in a religious context, as a statements towards a mythical tempter like a devil-figure and the broken crown as an inverted Jesus-metaphor. But it may also be read as a statement to a concrete physical person, may it be a tempter or a consoler. Again it can also be read as an inner struggle with his conscience and his mind. He knows that whatever he did, the road he went down, the path he chose, was wrong and that he failed big time. Feeling doubtful and not worth deserving anything but pain, he can't accept grace, because it's just not that easy for him. The different ending to the reprise of the verse at end leads not to acceptance but to realization: he can't change what happened. he can't forgive himself. but he will keep in mind to choose the right road next time, because now, when there's no pull on his flash, he CAN choose and he knows about the consequences of his choices.