"well the lush separation enfolds you and the products of wealth push you along on the bow wave of their spiritless undying selves."

these lyrics sound like they come from someone who knows what it is like to experience fame. "lush" has to do with wealth and luxury. "separation" may relate to the way fame can cause one to separate from working class ways. "enfolds" may have to do with the way the wealthy surround their selves with luxuries. "spiritless undying selves" may have to do with the way the famous each have their own personae, but typically, any impression that anyone has is probably not correct, because each hyped persona is supernatural. so, they are "spiritless" in the sense that such a persona does not effectively reflect the real person, and "undying", in the sense that their famous name seems to have a life of its own that continues on, while at the same time, the movie star ages and fades out of the limelight. "slipstream" is an interesting word because it actually has to do with air, rather than water: "the air stream pushed back by a revolving aircraft propeller"(Dictionary.com Unabridged), even though the context clearly refers to water e.g. "bow wave". "paddle right out of the mess" seems to suggest that the singer would rather not be involved with the ways of the wealthy, and the brevity of the song seems to suggest the same.

Ian Anderson's dad was dying at the time Anderson wrote these songs.

Compare Slipstream to Cheap Day Return:

(Here Anderson sings about the mundane which stands as metaphor for a stage and performance, his work, his career)

On Preston platform Do your soft shoe shuffle dance. Brush away the cigarette ash that's Falling down your pants.

(Here Anderson sings about the conflict of pursuing his life in rock versus being there for his dying dad).

And you sadly wonder Does the nurse treat your old man The way she should.

(Here Anderson reveals contempt for the idea that stardom could be more important than anyone's life.)

She made you tea, Asked for your autograph -- What a laugh.

So that bit about pressing on God's waiter your last dime as he hands you the bill likely is about Anderson paying the funeral bill at the church for his dead dad.

And through the turbulence of his life (slipstream) he escaped (paddle right out) of the phoniness of it all (mess).

@WayfarerWex Thank you - this is a very reasonable and thought out response. Explains both songs in a logical way.<br />

This song seems to be about trying to ascend in the Church of England. Seems to talk about making money and giving it to the church to gain rank instead of giving it to the people who need it. It's almost saying the church is a pyramid scheme.

God's waiter is your preacher, your priest. The bill is the Tithe, or, a tenth of your earnings minimum. The more you give, the better you are in the Church's eyes.

At least that's what I see.

The song is about being at the moment of death and seeing the truth, that you have spent all your capital, your time and energy, on the things of the world, "the products of wealth". God's waiter shows up in symbolic fashion. The bill has come due, the reckoning that you must make for how you have lived your life. But you have used up everything, down to your last bit of capital, on things that mean nothing now. So you paddle out of the mess that you've made. But it isn't certain where you are going. Maybe it isn't heaven or hell, but just away from the mess that you've made of your life and the world itself.