So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
Tears on the sleeve of a man
Don't want to be a boy today
Heard the eternal footman
Bought himself a bike to race
And Greg he writes letters and burns his CDs
They say you were something in those formative years
Hold onto nothing as fast as you can
Well still pretty good year
pretty good year
Maybe a bright sandy beach
Is gonna bring you back, back, back
Maybe not so now you're off
You're gonna see America
Well let me tell you something about America
Pretty good year
Pretty good
Some things are melting now
Some things are melting now
Well,hey what's it gonna take till my baby's alright
What's it gonna take till my baby's alright
And Greg he writes letters with his birthday pen
Sometimes he's aware that they're drawing him in
Lucy was pretty your best friend agreed
Well still pretty good year
pretty good
pretty good year
Don't want to be a boy today
Heard the eternal footman
Bought himself a bike to race
And Greg he writes letters and burns his CDs
They say you were something in those formative years
Hold onto nothing as fast as you can
Well still pretty good year
pretty good year
Maybe a bright sandy beach
Is gonna bring you back, back, back
Maybe not so now you're off
You're gonna see America
Well let me tell you something about America
Pretty good year
Pretty good
Some things are melting now
Some things are melting now
Well,hey what's it gonna take till my baby's alright
What's it gonna take till my baby's alright
And Greg he writes letters with his birthday pen
Sometimes he's aware that they're drawing him in
Lucy was pretty your best friend agreed
Well still pretty good year
pretty good
pretty good year
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I got a lettre from a guy named Greg. He's a fan, and this lettre just happened to get to me, because a lot of times I don't get them. But he's from the north of England and he drew this picture, a self-portrait of himself. It was a pencil drawing and Greg had glasses and long hair and he was really, really skinny. He had this drooping flower in his hand. And he wrote to me this lettre that touched me to the core about how at twenty-three, it was all over for him. In his mind, there was nothing. He just couldn't seem to catch the kite by the tail. You know, sometimes you see that kite flying and bloody hell, you just have to grab the tail, bring it down and see what's on the kite. Well, he just couldn't find a way around putting his desires and his visions into anything tangible, except this lettre. Many people today, before they even reach thirty, feel this way-it's a functional exercise waking up, brushing your teeth, going through your day. People have just numbered themselves. I don't know the answer why. I think there are loads of answers. It's not my job to come up with an answer. Nobody wants to hear an answer from me. The point is, what I tried to come up with is the feeling we all feel. Shanking us out of this numbness. I was just telling Greg's story and Greg affected the singer so much that it brought my own stuff into it, and that was kind of a neat surprise. -Tori Amos
-from the book In Their Own Words:Songwriters Talk About The Creative Process written/compiled by Bill DeMain
wow it's great to read that , thank you for the passage !