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.
Can you hear them?
They talk about us
Telling lies
Well, that's no surprise
Can you see them?
See right through them
They have no shield
No secrets to reveal
It doesn't matter what they say
In the jealous games people play
Our lips are sealed
There's a weapon
That we must use
In our defense
Silence reveals
When you look at them
Look right through them
That's when they'll disappear
That's when we'll be feared
It doesn't matter what they say
In the jealous games people play
Our lips are sealed
Pay no mind to what they say
It doesn't matter anyway
Our lips are sealed
Hush, my darling
Don't you cry
Quiet, angel
Forget their lies
Can you hear them?
They talk about us
Telling lies
Well, that's no surprise
Can you see them?
See right through them
They have no shield
No secrets to reveal
It doesn't matter what they say
In the jealous games people play
Our lips are sealed
Pay no mind to what they say
It doesn't matter anyway
Our lips are sealed
Our lips are sealed
Our lips are sealed
They talk about us
Telling lies
Well, that's no surprise
Can you see them?
See right through them
They have no shield
No secrets to reveal
It doesn't matter what they say
In the jealous games people play
Our lips are sealed
There's a weapon
That we must use
In our defense
Silence reveals
When you look at them
Look right through them
That's when they'll disappear
That's when we'll be feared
It doesn't matter what they say
In the jealous games people play
Our lips are sealed
Pay no mind to what they say
It doesn't matter anyway
Our lips are sealed
Hush, my darling
Don't you cry
Quiet, angel
Forget their lies
Can you hear them?
They talk about us
Telling lies
Well, that's no surprise
Can you see them?
See right through them
They have no shield
No secrets to reveal
It doesn't matter what they say
In the jealous games people play
Our lips are sealed
Pay no mind to what they say
It doesn't matter anyway
Our lips are sealed
Our lips are sealed
Our lips are sealed
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Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
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Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
The lyrics above are like they appear in the booklet of the Go-Go's CD Beauty and the beat (and also on the inner sleeve of the original LP). However, that's not what you hear on either original record. I have posted the lyrics to two other versions of OLAS, the one originally used on the CD (OLAS original LP version) and the one they sang live, which is more or like what is posted here but longer, except for the part "that's when YOU'll be feared" which is a typo and should read WE'll be feared. The Go-Go's sang the version I posted live in Los Angeles in 1984. This concert is available on a bootleg CD. I didn't check other live concerts to see if they always sing the song this way, but from memory that's what I remember hearing when I saw them live myself. Regarding the story of OLAS, The Kinks had nothing to do with the song. It goes a bit like this: The Specials were playing in LA... and saw the Go-Go's and Terry took a liking to Jane Wiedlin, and they started dating. After he went back to England, they kept up through mail, and Terry Hall sent her some lyrics she added her own and that's how Our Lips Are Sealed happened (with thanks to Chris for the story). The Specials split up in Oct. 81 and Terry Hall formed the Fun Boys Three with two other ex-Specials.
youtube.com/watch