Song meaning

Hester was the main character in The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850. Dimmesdale was the reverend who it turned out "did it" to her. In the film adaptation of the The Scarlet Letter (1926), Dimmesdale was played by Lars Hanson.

The lyrics also refer to Mark David Chapman, who shot John Lennon, and to JFK (Jack) who was rumored to have had an affair with Marilyn Monroe.