I think that the parallel between the theif on the cross and Christ is a bit of a stretch. I think the lyrics have a few layers to understanding. On the first layer, we see disenchanted and downcast person who cannot see anything positive with life. I believe it has heavy suicide overtones. One cannot listen to it or read the lyrics without first thinking it is referring to suicide. The song, however, does not leave us there. As we dig deeper, we find another deeper level, which leads to the hope Jon refers to. As mentioned in the article, "Son of sorrow" seems a reference to Christ. Isaiah 53 describes the coming Messiah/Suffering Servant as a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering. The hope of the song is that we can identify with Christ in the misery and pain of our lives. This misery and pain is the result of the "fatal wound" of mankind, sin - sin that nailed Christ to the cross. In Christ, we die to sin and have hope for eternal life, but we carry our cross every day, dying to self (which I believe is a reference to the final verse) while living in a world deluged with the effects of sin.

this is the real thing
no rubber bullets now
this is the final bow
my breath avoids me
my chest is in my head
my stomach's upside down

If we're making references and allusions to christ's death and the thief, then we probably say that these lines are referring to what the cross is supposed to do to its victim:

A cross is designed to lift your arms up and behind your shoulders. This makes it hard to breathe (my breath avoids me). The rest seems to just be about the reality of a situation like that (no rubber bullets now). And we all know christ was nervous that night (my stomach's upside down)... Foreman couldn't leave his verse hanging so he added "my chest is in my head"? Who can really say for sure besides Jon himself?

I'm gonna copy/paste my interpretation of the song that I posted somewhere else:

Jon says this song is about hope, and about how "the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone" which is a phrase about Jesus from the bible.. so I think its safe to say this song's about Christ's crucifixion.

"I am the crisis", Jesus took the our sins upon himself, so he became the crisis that we are. "I am divided" means that though he was perfect and holy, yet he was looked upon as if he sinned, because he took our sins upon himself. "I am the razor edge" is probably referring to Jesus' words saying that he came to divide, he came to save his people, as john the baptist describes him: "His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn". So the first stanza is basically Jesus' thoughts as he's preparing to die.. "there is no easy now".

The chorus gives me the image of the Son of sorrow, Jesus, on the cross.. "staring down forever". But I think its more like God/Jesus staring down forever from heaven at mankind, "with an aching view" because we're like the prodigal son and he's waiting for us to come back to him. He's "disenchanted". So he decides, "lets go down together", as in, he decides to go down with us, he decides to take upon himself our sinfulness and bring himself down to our dirty level, and *then* offer himself as a sacrifice in place of us (we deserved to pay the price for our sins, but he paid it). The God of the universe decided to come down and live amongst us, and to go down with us in our fallenness.

just before he goes down with the fatal wound (dies), he tells himself, "this is the real thing, no rubber bullets now, this is the final bow". in the old testament, they offered goats and pigeons as sacrifices for sins, but now this is the REAL thing, the real ultimate complete sacrifice, the final bow...after this no more sacrifices will be needed, its final. it even pays for the sins we'll commit in the future. "my breath avoids me" reminds me of how even God the Father looked away from jesus and forsook him for a few moments when he was on the cross...his own breath avoided him. thats the pain we deserved, but he went through it so we wouldn't have to suffer for our wrongdoings. "my stomach's upside down" reminds me of how jesus' side was poked with a spear when he was on the cross, and water and blood came gushing out... leaving his stomach upside down, as in, mangled.

"my chest is in my head" gives me the image of his head hanging down and touching his chest (on the cross).

"lets go down together" also gives me the image of him telling the thieves on both sides of him (who symbolize humankind - the ones who reject him, like the one thief, and the ones who accept him, like the other)... he tells them, "lets go down together", which could be seen as, "i go down with you in your fallenness, i'll pay for it", or "i feel your pain, son".

the song is poetic brilliance, and its sad its meaning is lost on so many people. its sooo NOT a suicide song. the harmonica is heart-wrenching.

I find all these posts inspiring and insightful. It's nice to hear how this song speaks to people differently and personally. I'm glad everyone agrees that the Son of Sorrow is about Jesus and His sacrifice which is our Hope!

The vagueness as well as the use of modern phrases like "gun this down" & "rubber bullets", I hope, opens up our imagination.

Sometimes like a 'video' playing in my head, I listen to the song and imagine a mixture of images threading between past, present and future. Like seeing scenes between Getsemanie, Golgotha, violent scenes from our present time, Christ lamenting on His throne, and Jesus looking down on us with masses in heaven ready to witness Christ's descent back to earth to re-establish the kingdom.

That said, I think Philemon Thomas has a most inspiring literal interpretation. Alas, I think Jon wrote this cool song with "an almost free association type of thing" [his words] to get a very personal and impactful song about Christ's sacrifice.

This song makes me feel undeserved of the gift of salvation. It makes me feel humbled and drawn to worship the one, true living God every time I listen to it. Good song.