Well, the sacrificial imagery, tying in with pentagrams, naked dancing and ashes of dead babies is plain enough. It's drawing on the stereotypical imagery of satanic/pagan ritual. Pagan societies are also often known to have a coming-of-age ritual, where a boy achieve his manhood and is reaccepted into society. Moreover, Roman pagan coming-of-age ceremonies in particular were often supplemented with visits to local prostitutes so as to confirm a boy's passage.
This lady lives 'down below our floor', which could mean she lives in the apartment below our narrator and she could be a prostitute. The fact that her 'feet are dry with the ashes from dead babies' suggests to me that she takes the boyhood from young people so that they can be men and the 'dead babies', i.e. the childhood innocence that they once had, they leave dead in her apartment once they're gone. BUT. The analogy to ritual is ironic, because they've 'passed the test just like all the rest but never really understood the reason why they took it in the first place.'
So then we have a coming-of-age ritual, in some sense, which has no meaning. The verses of the song build up this woman's power and significance for young boys and then the refrain tramps it back down again. Apparently, they've gained nothing from their experience with this woman; they don't even know why they did it.
Then, our narrator is implicated. At the beginning of the second verse, he resists this woman:
'Your feisty eyes won't make me fall apart.
Your turquoise and silver won't weaken this old heart.'
But he's tempted. Then he succumbs:
'I fell to the ground on a windy, windy night.'
And he's passed the test too, just like everyone else but it has no significance for him.
It sounds to me like it's a song about losing your virginity to a woman in a empty, impersonal encounter. Young boys who are virgins are often envious of boys who are not as they're perceived as more 'manly' or 'grown up.' But when the times comes to actually lose it, it's just a banal and pointless experience and doesn't really lead to anything better.
Well, the sacrificial imagery, tying in with pentagrams, naked dancing and ashes of dead babies is plain enough. It's drawing on the stereotypical imagery of satanic/pagan ritual. Pagan societies are also often known to have a coming-of-age ritual, where a boy achieve his manhood and is reaccepted into society. Moreover, Roman pagan coming-of-age ceremonies in particular were often supplemented with visits to local prostitutes so as to confirm a boy's passage.
This lady lives 'down below our floor', which could mean she lives in the apartment below our narrator and she could be a prostitute. The fact that her 'feet are dry with the ashes from dead babies' suggests to me that she takes the boyhood from young people so that they can be men and the 'dead babies', i.e. the childhood innocence that they once had, they leave dead in her apartment once they're gone. BUT. The analogy to ritual is ironic, because they've 'passed the test just like all the rest but never really understood the reason why they took it in the first place.'
So then we have a coming-of-age ritual, in some sense, which has no meaning. The verses of the song build up this woman's power and significance for young boys and then the refrain tramps it back down again. Apparently, they've gained nothing from their experience with this woman; they don't even know why they did it.
Then, our narrator is implicated. At the beginning of the second verse, he resists this woman:
'Your feisty eyes won't make me fall apart. Your turquoise and silver won't weaken this old heart.'
But he's tempted. Then he succumbs:
'I fell to the ground on a windy, windy night.'
And he's passed the test too, just like everyone else but it has no significance for him.
It sounds to me like it's a song about losing your virginity to a woman in a empty, impersonal encounter. Young boys who are virgins are often envious of boys who are not as they're perceived as more 'manly' or 'grown up.' But when the times comes to actually lose it, it's just a banal and pointless experience and doesn't really lead to anything better.