Q. The religious imagery is pretty thick in your lyrics. How does religion figure into your own life?I'm so happy to see that the Audioslave experiment is over and Tom is back to jamming the gears and mugging the conductor. RATM was a major influence on how I look at the world politically. I miss their activist and rebel spirit, so to see Tom getting back to what he was meant to be doing is great news. His comments on religion and grace particularly resonate with me.
A. When I was forced to go to mass every Sunday, it was a grueling thing. But clearly it has seeped into who I am and where it finds purchase is on those nights -- whether it's in a coffee house or an arena -- when you are really doing what it is you are meant to be doing with the right intentions and doing it for causes you believe in. I feel something that is akin to grace.
Q. Do you believe in God?
A. My whole life I've struggled with the idea of faith. On the one hand, I have a childlike desire for there to be a God. But it's one of two things. Either there is a divine presence that orders the universe in some way and we are all in some way beholden to that will, or it is a universe bereft of meaning, in which case you have to make your own meaning at every moment. Either way, it's important to struggle for social justice and to live by the mantra nobody wins unless we all win.
Q. The Nightwatchman is talking about violent revolution in some songs. How is your audience supposed to take that?
A. If you ever start censoring because of what someone might think or do because of one of your songs, you've mortgaged your artistic soul. At the same time, there's an implied threat in a lot of these songs. As the great historian Howard Zinn says, you can't be neutral on a moving train. When the train is moving pell mell in a disastrous direction, you can sit in the dining car sipping martinis or you can jam the gears or mug the conductor. This is a record about jamming the gears and mugging the conductor.
It's as good an explanation of grace as I've heard.
update: Pre-ordered Tom's new album here.
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