"Joan of Arc" is about being blamed by a sanctified authority and then turning the imposed martyr role into power. The words build a system of judgment: someone claims moral certainty, names the speaker as the mess, pushes guilt onto her, and demands sacrifice. The Joan image matters because it names a woman made public through punishment, fire, faith, and accusation.

The song does not treat that image as delicate tragedy. It makes it rhythmic. At 0:42, the chorus turns blame into spectacle; at 1:05, the title makes the speaker occupy the symbol; at 1:09, the burn refrain converts punishment into command. The second verse makes the moral charge dirtier and more bodily, and the 2:23 bridge exposes the trap: judgment and supposed release come from the same threatening voice. The music proves the meaning by staying locked. A looser arrangement would make the martyr imagery feel like scenery; this hard grid makes accusation feel like a machine the speaker uses before the fire goes out.