In spite of the strong feelings about the hick town from which she comes, Vidalia is a dutiful daughter and accompanies her family to church one last time before moving to the big city. The song takes a dialogue form, alternating points of view from Vidalia and the Preacher. None of these songs are from Alex's point of view! That is, the “I's” and “me's” are the characters speaking for themselves. There is some omniscient narration here and there to set the scene or advance the, ahem, “plot.” So much rock music is done in the personal-confessional vein, I think the default is to imagine that the singer is pouring his shriveled little heart out about his innermost feelings. This becomes important later on as less savory characters are revealed.
This song is truly ballad opera-like; it is a 19th century hymn I have repurposed. The Young Tradition did the version that inspired me to thieve it. But that version is not readily linked to anywhere I can find. The fella down below does a nice job with it.
I think it's just an artifact of the recording, but I kind of sound like I have a lisp on this track. I don't sing with a lisp, do I? You'd tell me, right?