I agree that the first verse is preacher -> astronaut, but I think it's about losing your faith. The preacher has always doubted his religion, and looks to an astronaut (representing science) to confirm his belief that there is no God. Lines like "I heard it's kinda lonesome there" and "Nothing to talk to but a cold, cold air" deal with the preacher's idea that there's nothing out there. The last line,
"in the blink of a flashing, blinding light", is a direct reference to the Big Bang.
In the second verse we have the astronaut's perspective. He's been asked by a devout religious man whether or not he believes in God after going to outer space. The astronaut counters with "Are you feeling alright? Did you ever really feel anything?", which is suggesting that the preacher must have never had faith in what he believed if he is asking the astronaut his opinion. The astronaut talks about how after the preacher has come out and said this, he won't be accepted back into his faith "Do you really think that you're one of them? They're going to hunt you, they're going to cut you..." until the preacher 'says it's written, and makes the payments". It ends with a brilliant bit of lyricism where the last syllable of paralyzed is repeated as "lies, lies, lies", referring to the astronaut's indecision.
Oh, and the song is awesome. The drummer is unbelievable on every song this band makes and, just like every other song on the album, the rest of the band is providing haunting instrumentation. Awesome song on my favourite album.
I agree that the first verse is preacher -> astronaut, but I think it's about losing your faith. The preacher has always doubted his religion, and looks to an astronaut (representing science) to confirm his belief that there is no God. Lines like "I heard it's kinda lonesome there" and "Nothing to talk to but a cold, cold air" deal with the preacher's idea that there's nothing out there. The last line, "in the blink of a flashing, blinding light", is a direct reference to the Big Bang.
In the second verse we have the astronaut's perspective. He's been asked by a devout religious man whether or not he believes in God after going to outer space. The astronaut counters with "Are you feeling alright? Did you ever really feel anything?", which is suggesting that the preacher must have never had faith in what he believed if he is asking the astronaut his opinion. The astronaut talks about how after the preacher has come out and said this, he won't be accepted back into his faith "Do you really think that you're one of them? They're going to hunt you, they're going to cut you..." until the preacher 'says it's written, and makes the payments". It ends with a brilliant bit of lyricism where the last syllable of paralyzed is repeated as "lies, lies, lies", referring to the astronaut's indecision.
Oh, and the song is awesome. The drummer is unbelievable on every song this band makes and, just like every other song on the album, the rest of the band is providing haunting instrumentation. Awesome song on my favourite album.