And to Christ: a cross
And to me: a chair
I will sit and earn the ransom
From up here
There's a lot of debate about what this chair is (electric chair? church pew?), but I think the clue is in the word "up". This is an image of someone sitting in heaven because Christ paid the ransom on the cross. Whether the songwriter considers that a true image or a false one, I'm not sure.
But the lines before that suggest to me the songwriter sees religion as fake:
It's the sun that burns
It's the wheel that turns
It's the way we sing that makes 'em dream
The sun, the wheel, these are tangible things that operate with no need for God. But the singing choir and the vocal preacher make people dream there's a God orchestrating these things.
And to right or wrong
And to meek or strong
It is known, just scream it from the wall
He's saying we don't need religion to tell us right from wrong - it is known. Therefore, he is saying the "dreams" religion sells us serve no good purpose.
And to Christ: a cross And to me: a chair I will sit and earn the ransom From up here
There's a lot of debate about what this chair is (electric chair? church pew?), but I think the clue is in the word "up". This is an image of someone sitting in heaven because Christ paid the ransom on the cross. Whether the songwriter considers that a true image or a false one, I'm not sure.
But the lines before that suggest to me the songwriter sees religion as fake:
It's the sun that burns It's the wheel that turns It's the way we sing that makes 'em dream
The sun, the wheel, these are tangible things that operate with no need for God. But the singing choir and the vocal preacher make people dream there's a God orchestrating these things.
And to right or wrong And to meek or strong It is known, just scream it from the wall
He's saying we don't need religion to tell us right from wrong - it is known. Therefore, he is saying the "dreams" religion sells us serve no good purpose.