Religion plays a big part in the music of XTC, in the same way that gazelles feature heavily in the social life of lions.
Cain Cain was the first son of Adam and Eve. When he slew his brother Abel, God condemned him to wander the Earth, placing a mark on him lest anyone seek revenge for Abel.
Abel Abel was the second son of Adam and Eve. A shepherd, he was murdered by his brother Cain out of envy. His innocence is praised in Matthew 23:35.
Golden Calf In the Bible, the Golden Calf was an idol made by Aaron for the Israelites while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments. When Moses saw the idol, he was enraged and destroyed it (Exodus 32). Similar representations had a prominent place in other religions.
Burning Bush While Moses was in exile in Egypt and keeping his father-in-law's flock, God spoke to him at a burning bush and commissioned him to lead Israel out of Egypt. Don't you just hate it when that happens?
Sodom and Gomorrah According to Genesis 19, Sodom and Gomorrah were two "cities of the Plain" that God destroyed with a rain of "brimstone and fire" as punishment for their evil ways. Before the destruction God warned Lot to leave Sodom and not to look back; Lot's wife, who looked back on the burning city, was turned into a pillar of salt. The cities were probably located at the southern end of the Dead Sea and devastated by an earthquake c.1900 BC.
Herod's Daughter (Salome) Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, was tetrarch (governor) of Galilee. He questioned Jesus before the crucifixion. Earlier, Herod Antipas had divorced his wife and married his niece, Herodias. When John the Baptist denounced this marriage, Herod had him imprisoned. On Herod's birthday his stepdaughter, Salome, danced before him and his guests. Herod was delighted and told her she might ask for anything she wished. At the urging of her mother, she asked for the head of John the Baptist. (Matt. 14:1-12; Mark 6:14-29).
Jericho When the army of God led by Joshua came to the well defended city of Jericho, Joshua sought the assistance of a higher power to gain access. God said unto him...
"You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark; and on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing the trumpets. And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up every man straight before him."
I think the very same builders worked on our house...
These references crop up variously in:
further reading:
