Ticket to Heaven
I can see what you're looking to find
in the smile on my face
in my peace of mind
in my state of grace
I send what I can
to the man from the ministry
he's a part of heaven's plan
and he talks to me
now I send what I can to the man
with the diamond ring
he's a part of heaven's plan
and he sure can sing
now it's all I can afford
but the lord has sent me eternity
it's to save the little children
in a poor country
I got my ticket to heaven
and everlasting life
I got a ride all the way to paradise
I got my ticket to heaven
and everlasting life
all the way to paradise
now there's nothing left for luxuries
nothing left to pay my heating bill
but the good lord will provide
I know he will
so send what you can
to the man with the diamond ring
they're tuning in across the land
to hear him sing
I got my ticket to heaven
and everlasting life
all the way to paradise
2007-06-30 04:59:24 · 6 answers · asked by megalomaniac 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I wanted to know what YOU thought about it not what you thought the writer meant. But oh well...
2007-07-02 04:56:38 · update #1
It is a satire on TV evangelists.
The poor send them money that they can not afford to give so that he gets to buy stuff, like diamond rings.
They justify if by thinking that they can buy their way into the fantasy heaven that the preacher sings about.
2007-06-30 05:08:57 · answer #1 · answered by Simon T 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Dire Straits Meaning
2016-11-05 05:44:09 · answer #2 · answered by delpiano 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As everyone says, this refers to televangelists.
"I can see what you're looking to find
in the smile on my face" etc. refers, I think, to the tendency of people who watch this kind of stuff to think that everyone SHOULD be watching it. In other words, they think that because it makes them happy ("the smile on my face") everyone should do it. It refers to the fundamentalist christian attitude that everyone should conform. They assume that they know what "you're looking to find" by what makes them happy, without considering anything other than their own wishes.
"I send what I can to the man from the ministry"- self explanatory except to point out that 1) what ministry are we talking about, exactly? 2) there's a BIG leap of faith in accepting that "he's part of heaven's plan" and 3) it's really obtuse to think that someone who doesn't know you who's appearing on a tv show talks to you.
"Now I send what I can to the man/ With the diamond ring"- the diamond ring points out this man is profiting by bilking people and that a lot of the money collected is NOT going to hungry children AND that the person making this statement is again really obtuse for not having the common sense to figure this out.
"...he sure can sing" - the guy's attraction is not that he's a spiritual leader, but that he's got a talent, just like any other singer, but unlike other singers, he's using it to bilk people. He's not a good enough singer to compete with someone who makes their money only by singing.
"Now it's all I can afford/ But the Lord has sent me eternity"- this is the standard view of fundamentalism- that you can buy your way into heaven, that if you follow certain formulas you've made a contract with god that he is obligated to fulfill. It's all about MONEY.
"...the little children in a poor country"- as stated before, reference shows how obtuse the person singing the song is not to know the money's not going there. Also ironic that a poor person is trying to send money to a "poor country."
"I got my ticket to heaven" etc. Again, the contractual thing. You can buy a ticket to heaven and eternal life- i.e. you can use money to get into heaven. Also ironic because the narrator can't afford to pay his/her bills in this life (which is what money is for- this life), but thinks he/she can afford a "ticket to heaven." Point- how can a physical commodity (money) be the means to entry into a spiritual place (heaven)?
"Now there's nothing left for" etc. Now the narrator hasn't just cut non-essential things out of their life, he/she can't even afford to live this life- which, as I said, is what money is for.
"But the good Lord will provide" is intended to be highly ironic considering that there are "hungry children" and the narrator is himself now going to go hungry, while the supposed middleman, the man from the ministry, is profiting from the misery of both. If the good Lord is provding for anyone, it's the man from the ministry.
"They're tuning in across the land/ To hear him sing" points up what I said before. This guy is no spiritual leader. The people who watch him just like his singing and undoubtedly the songs he sings.
Last stanza drives the point home- this is a very fundamentalist view of religion that's based on money. You can buy a ticket, a contract between you and a transportation company, to heaven. God can be bought- and sold. The man from the ministry is selling him.
2007-06-30 06:04:31 · answer #3 · answered by gehme 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Morality
2007-06-30 05:02:48 · answer #4 · answered by fran j 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it states the truth: most televangelists are frauds, just like everyone else on tv. there are SOME good ones, but they're few and far between.
2007-06-30 05:08:03 · answer #5 · answered by That Guy Drew 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He must have been watching a revivalist working the crowd!
2007-06-30 05:04:08 · answer #6 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋