Robyn Raymond Hitchcock (born 3rd March 1953) is an English singer-songwrit… Read Full Bio ↴Robyn Raymond Hitchcock (born 3rd March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and psych folk guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. Many of Hitchcock's album covers bear his paintings or drawings, and his albums' liner notes sometimes include a printed short story. His live concerts usually include a considerable amount of story-telling, imaginative and surreal ad-libbed monologues in his lyrical style. He is the son of novelist Raymond Hitchcock and the brother of artist Lal Hitchcock.

He regularly does solo work, and returns again and again to bands he has formed like The Soft Boys and The Egyptians. Hitchcock is an avid and able collaborator with people like director Jonathan Demme, actor Alan Rickman, country/folk duo (and longtime Hitchcock fans) Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, The Venus 3, R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Young Fresh Fellows' frontman Scott McCaughey, Andy Partridge of XTC, Nick Lowe, former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, Jon Brion, and Grant-Lee Phillips, as well as Ministry's Bill Rieflin.

Hitchcock's musical and lyrical styles have been influenced by his appreciation of Bob Dylan, Gregory Corso, The Byrds, Country Joe & The Fish, and Syd Barrett.

Hitchcock's lyrics are an essential component of his work, and tend to include surrealism, comedic songs, characterisations of English eccentrics, plant roots, insects, trains, dreams, and melancholy depictions of everyday life. His themes include what many psychologists view as the roots of modern neurosis - namely, death, sex, and eating. (As if in recognition of these themes, he released an EP in 2007 called "Sex, Food, Death and Tarantulas".)

Cathedral
Robyn Hitchcock Lyrics

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Do you wonder like I do,
What goes on inside of you?
In the cathedral of the mind,
All the worshippers are blind.

Like a toilet from outside,
A cathedral from inside;
There, behind your open face,

Lies an awful lot of space.

And if I ever look into your open eyes again,
I'll remind myself to stare until I'm looking through your eyes.

When I'm hurt, you feel the pain.
You've been in my head again.
You're projecting onto me
What you'd like yourself to see.

Now the clock is beating fast.
Every moment wanders past,
And fades away,
Then comes back another day.

Do I go, or do I stay
Inside your mind?

Overall Meaning

Robyn Hitchcock's song Cathedral is a poetic reflection on the complexity of the human psyche, specifically exploring the mystery of what lies inside a person's mind. The opening verse poses a rhetorical question, inviting the listener to ponder the same: "Do you wonder like I do, what goes on inside of you?" This is followed by the image of "the cathedral of the mind," suggesting that our thoughts and emotions are a vast and intricate structure, like a grand religious building.

However, the second line of the chorus subverts this idea: "All the worshippers are blind." This implies that despite how intricate the cathedral of our mind may be, we are unable to fully comprehend its workings. The second verse furthers this sense of mystery with the comparison of the mind to a building: "Like a toilet from outside, a cathedral from inside; there, behind your open face, lies an awful lot of space." This observation is intriguing, as it highlights the vastness and complexity of the internal world that can be hidden behind an outwardly simple facade.

The third verse suggests a connection between the two individuals mentioned in the song, implying that they are deeply connected and can feel each other's pain. However, the final lines of the song ("Do I go, or do I stay inside your mind?") suggest an uncertainty and apprehension about that connection. The song ultimately leaves the listener with a sense of awe at the vastness and complexity of the human mind, and the mystery of how we connect with others.

Line by Line Meaning

Do you wonder like I do,
Do you have the same curiosity as I do?

What goes on inside of you?
What is happening within your mind?

In the cathedral of the mind,
Within the vast space of one's consciousness,

All the worshippers are blind.
Every thought that comes to one's mind is unconscious.

Like a toilet from outside,
Despite outward appearances,

A cathedral from inside;
One's inner world is as vast as a cathedral.

There, behind your open face,
Behind the facade of one's face,

Lies an awful lot of space.
Exists a great deal of volume in one's mind.

And if I ever look into your open eyes again,
In the event that I ever look into your eyes once more,

I'll remind myself to stare until I'm looking through your eyes.
I must focus until I see the world as you see it.

When I'm hurt, you feel the pain.
When I am pained, you too experience discomfort.