Losing My Religion - R.E.M.

This song relates to The Poisonwood Bible by having it relate it's lyrics to the loss of religion, along with losing someone that you love.

I personally picture Orleanna Price saying the first verse: "Life is bigger / it's bigger than you / and you are not me / the lengths that I will go to / the distance in your eyes / oh no, I've said too much / I set it up".  I think this is something she would want to say to Nathan Price, this is because she is a very passive character which relates to the lyric "Oh no, I've said too much".  Also, she blames herself for not protecting her family from Nathan and the Congo, which relates to the lyrics "I set it up".

I can also picture Orleanna saying the chorus: "That's me in the corner / that's me in the spotlight / losing my religion / trying to keep up with you / and I don't know if I can do it / oh no, I've said too much / I haven't said enough".  Throughout the novel, Nathan punishes Orleanna for her sins, for tempting him with her sexuality, and also for having his children which is a sign of his sins; therefore she is the one who is in Nathan's "spotlight" the most.  In the novel Orleanna (along with the rest of the characters) slowly loses her faith in the Lord because of Nathan's harshness, along with all of their other misfortunes, which relates to the lyric "losing my religion / trying to keep up with you".

The third verse can also be applied to Orleanna's point of view: "Every whisper / of every waking hour / I'm choosing my confessions / trying to keep an eye on you / like a hurt lost and blinded fool / oh no, I've said too much / I set it up".  The lyrics "I'm choosing my confessions" directly applies to a situation where the four daughters took the blame for a sin that Orleanna committed. The daughters did this without Orleanna's knowledge, but she did not admit that she had done it even after she found out what had happened. Also, Orleanna tries to keep Nathan's actions to a reasonable level but fails due to her passive nature towards him, which relates to the lyric: "Trying to keep an eye on you / like a hurt lost and blinded fool".

The fourth and final verse is something that could be said by Nathan Price: "Consider this / the hint of the century / consider this / the slip that brought me / to my knees failed / what if all these fantasies / come flailing around / now I've said too much". I can picture him saying this to his inner conscience, the Nathan that "died" while he was away at war.  In the lyric "The slip that brought me / to my knees failed" could be referring to what happened while he was at war.  Falling to your knees is a metaphor for knocking you down or losing yourself in some way; which relates to Nathan losing his old, friendly self.  Being on your knees also symbolizes praying, which is somewhat ironic because Nathan's harsh Baptist ways is what made him lose his family in the end.

Plot Summary

In 1959, the Price family moves to the heart of the Congo to show the people of the village the way of the Lord. Nathan Price is the father, and a power-driven Baptist. With him are his four daughters and wife, who narrate the entire novel, filling in essential details that another could not. As time goes on, the Price family is forced face challenges that they never expected would come to them. They shortly found out that they would have to face not only a spiritual battle, but also a political battle. This along with the multiple diseases and misfortunes of Africa, which eventually lead to the death of one of the Price children. At the end of the novel, each of the narrators find their own independence, and all but one are forgiven for their acts against one another.