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.
Everything that keeps me together is falling apart
I've got this thing that I consider my only art of fucking people over
My boss just quit the job
Says he's goin out to find blind spots and he'll do it
The 3rd planet is sure that they're being watched
By an eye in the sky that can't be stopped when you get to the promise land
You're gonna shake that eye's hand
Your heart felt good
It was drippin' pitch and made of wood
And your hands and knees
Felt cold and wet on the grass beneath
Well outside naked, shivering, looking blue
From the cold sunlight that's reflected off the moon
Baby cum angels, fly around you
Reminding you we used to be three and not just two
And that's how the world began
And that's how the world will end
Well, a 3rd had just been made and we were swimming in the water
Didn't know then, was it a son, was it a daughter
And it occurred to me that the animals are swimming
Around in the water in the oceans in our bodies
And another had been found, another ocean on the planet
Given that our blood is just like the Atlantic, and how
Well the universe is shaped exactly like the earth
If you go straight long enough you'll end up where you were
And the universe is shaped exactly like the earth
If you go straight long enough you'll end up where you were
The universe is shaped exactly like the earth
Your heart felt good
It was drippin' pitch and made of wood
And your hands and knees
Felt cold and wet on the grass beneath
Well outside naked, shiverin' looking blue
From the cold sunlight that's reflected off the moon
Baby cum angels, fly around you
Reminding you we used to be three and not just two
And that's how the world began
And that's how the world will end
Well, a 3rd had just been made and we were swimming in the water
Didn't know then, was it a son, was it a daughter
And it occurred to me that the animals are swimming
Around in the water in the oceans in our bodies
And another had been found, another ocean on the planet
Given that our blood is just like the Atlantic, and how
Well, the universe is shaped exactly like the earth
If you go straight long enough you'll end up where you were
And the universe is shaped exactly like the earth
If you go straight long enough you'll end up where you were
The universe is shaped exactly like the earth
Everything that keeps me together is falling apart
I've got this thing that I consider my only art of fucking people over
I've got this thing that I consider my only art of fucking people over
My boss just quit the job
Says he's goin out to find blind spots and he'll do it
The 3rd planet is sure that they're being watched
By an eye in the sky that can't be stopped when you get to the promise land
You're gonna shake that eye's hand
Your heart felt good
It was drippin' pitch and made of wood
And your hands and knees
Felt cold and wet on the grass beneath
Well outside naked, shivering, looking blue
From the cold sunlight that's reflected off the moon
Baby cum angels, fly around you
Reminding you we used to be three and not just two
And that's how the world began
And that's how the world will end
Well, a 3rd had just been made and we were swimming in the water
Didn't know then, was it a son, was it a daughter
And it occurred to me that the animals are swimming
Around in the water in the oceans in our bodies
And another had been found, another ocean on the planet
Given that our blood is just like the Atlantic, and how
Well the universe is shaped exactly like the earth
If you go straight long enough you'll end up where you were
And the universe is shaped exactly like the earth
If you go straight long enough you'll end up where you were
The universe is shaped exactly like the earth
Your heart felt good
It was drippin' pitch and made of wood
And your hands and knees
Felt cold and wet on the grass beneath
Well outside naked, shiverin' looking blue
From the cold sunlight that's reflected off the moon
Baby cum angels, fly around you
Reminding you we used to be three and not just two
And that's how the world began
And that's how the world will end
Well, a 3rd had just been made and we were swimming in the water
Didn't know then, was it a son, was it a daughter
And it occurred to me that the animals are swimming
Around in the water in the oceans in our bodies
And another had been found, another ocean on the planet
Given that our blood is just like the Atlantic, and how
Well, the universe is shaped exactly like the earth
If you go straight long enough you'll end up where you were
And the universe is shaped exactly like the earth
If you go straight long enough you'll end up where you were
The universe is shaped exactly like the earth
Everything that keeps me together is falling apart
I've got this thing that I consider my only art of fucking people over
Lyrics submitted by rojazz, edited by quirk3k, RemCorona, rectangles, sheionizes, wronglyric, DeusExBrockina, stephaniet, minuette, Zignor44
3rd Planet Lyrics as written by Isaac Brock Eric Judy
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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i haven't read all the comments for this song but i read quite a few and i was surprised that only one person mentioned anything about the songs clear referances to pregnancy and the loss of the baby (abortion?)I really am not that great at interpratating things, so i will just say the referances that seemed obvious to me. There is a couple who is either too poor or to young or just not ready to have a baby, but the woman gets pregnant. "I have this thing that i consider my only art/of fucking people over" he fucked over the woman, and now she either has to deal with an abortion or raising this child.
"baby cum angels fly around you/reminding us we USED TO BE THREE AND NOT JUST TWO" The baby that died is an angel,(cum angel because it wasnt yet born, the pregnancy was terminated early on so it was nearer to egg and cum then a baby...? not quite sure about the cum part). The baby cum angels remind them that they used to have a baby, together they used to be three before they got rid of their baby
"A THIRD HAD JUST BEEN MADE and we were swimming in the water/didnt know then was it a son was it a daughter" clearly states that A THIRD HAD JUST BEEN MADE and they didn't know yet if it was a son or a daughter, because you cannot tell early on in the pregnancy. They were not having sex in the waterrrrr jeez.
"and it occurred to me that the animals were swimming around in the water IN THE OCEANS OF OUR BODIES AND ANOTHER HAD BEEN FOUND ANOTHER OCEAN ON THE PLANET (given that our blood is just like the atlantic)" Is saying that OUR BODIES ARE OCEANS and ANOTHER OCEAN HAD BEEN FOUND the other ocean being the unborn child
Those were the referances I thought for sure implied the termination or loss of a pregnancy.
"The third planet is sure that theyre being watched/by an eye in the sky that cant be stopped" The eye in the sky is the mother or the father or whoever knows about the pregnancy and wants there to be an abortion. The baby has no power to stop the eye in the sky.
"and when you get to the promise land/your gonna shake that eyes hand" the promise land is referancing some sort of heaven (gah i know modest mouse isnt religious). The baby is going to have a face-to-face meeting with its parents in the promise land.
nooooooone is going to read this... haaha i feel like this is way to long alreadyyy gah.
So I see that you wrote this four years ago and will probably never see this response, but I just wanted to tell you that I enjoyed your post. It seemed to make a lot of sense to me and made me see the song differently. Sure beats the third gender theory that a friend tried explaining to me years haha. Thanke sia for your post.
Nice and old lead sparks up, I believe there must be something going round for people are suddenly raising such interest in songs about fatalism. <br /> <br /> Sometimes I get disappointed when reading a song explanation, but this interpretation makes the song even better. I was surprised by this explanation as well and I thought it was spot on. <br /> <br /> except for one thing. <br /> <br /> Modest Mouse may not be so catholic but, couldn't it be that shaking the eye's hand is actually saying God's hand ,you know in that "promised land"... <br /> Catholic Churches all have an eye painted high up on the ceiling above the altar, it's the eye of God. <br /> <br /> I guess dealing with such tragedy as abortion could shake up your disbelieves about religion too. Maybe he wants nothing more for his unborn child to get to a promised land, if there ever was one. <br /> And maybe he is surprised about his sudden religious feelings of hope that there is gonna be a divine protector for this baby cum angel. And when they meet God and the baby are gonna shake hands. Believing in paradise not for yourself but for another being, sure is going to make you feel as if you were struck by divinity. <br /> <br /> OR<br /> <br /> One of the eye's that is watching and directing the Third Planets existence, and forcing the couple to have an abortion is in fact The Eye of a strict and religious parent. And that way, religion does play an important role in this song but more as in a feeling of resentment than as in hope. <br /> <br /> Cheers!<br /> <br />
Nice, but 2 things:<br /> <br /> cum, in the sense it is used in this song is a conjunction "used in hyphenated phrases to link nouns that describe a person or thing with two jobs, uses, etc." So, basically, it means that the child reference is both a baby and an angel.<br /> <br /> The abortion angle is something that occurred to me as well, but I don't find it to be a necessary interpretation. A child died, possibly before being born, but it's not clear how. It is clear that the person whose perspective the song provides feels guilt, sadness, anger, etc.
I like your interpretation better than mine. Everytime i have listened to this song I have always thought of the 3rd planet as being the couples miss carriage instead of an abortion.
@sunshinedaydream nah pretty good! i think it's more complex but you were hitting good points with the baby thing...and let's not forget our bodies are like 75 percent saltwater or something, especially the stuff that unborn baby would have been floating in. <br /> this one is not so easy to sum up, i think we'd need a book<br />
@sunshinedaydream Don't just leap into the abortion thing like that. It might have little to do with it or nothing to do at all. The focus of the song for the most part is the actual 3rd planet (which is Earth) and thoughts on its origins, especially, religious interpretations, there's a whole verse dedicated to it (and you've missed the point of it completely). They're not religious that's why it was sarcastic, mocking religion.
@sunshinedaydream <br /> <br /> Okay it is everything you said....<br /> But i connect the dots to this in my mind.<br /> <br /> The eye in the sky. Is "God" so as being someone whose playing god; like you said, the eye in the sky for the child's creation/creator, being the parents. The childs existence is merely in the decision of the parents indefinitely..besides well mother nature..ie illness etc...... ( ie: "God" cant be stopped) thats the guilt Isaac reflects, he feels he is playing an unfair role of God. And some do get pregnant too young, poor or any other less substantiating environments, <br /> just like the third planet (people of Earth) feels within the mercy of their God's.. <br /> It was that moment he felt he had a very high almost devine level of reflection <br /> knowing this is how people must view that eye in the sky "God", because when you "play God" everything is always in your mercy.<br /> And it's not an easy job to have if you have deep feelings of love..the whole; what is right?.<br /> So for the babys sake because Isaac does not have a deep religious belief that there is an afterlife, he hopes for the baby's sake that there is so that he can shake the eyes hand, "God".. and reunite again someday, although he lay doubtful... he understands how it is and within an iota of a picosecond how it is to be God in that spark of moment. <br /> <br /> "and it occurred to me that the animals were swimming around in the water IN THE OCEANS OF OUR BODIES AND ANOTHER HAD BEEN FOUND ANOTHER OCEAN ON THE PLANET (given that our blood is just like the atlantic)" It is how the world began, and it is how the world will end. <br /> <br /> The universe is shaped exactly like the Earth if you go straight long enough you end up where you were... <br /> <br /> His further doubt to an afterlife. <br /> He feels even if he stays on the straight and narrow. praying to a God and being a good boy you just end up where you were..."long walk to the same exact spot" <br /> <br /> Parting Of the sensory also picks hints to this up in it's own way to my foresight. <br /> Peoples feelings and their writings normally show congruentcy within themselves. Idk probably too long too but you are the only person I have ever read heard or spoke to, that has the same exact insight of this song just as I do, <br /> This is just my mind's grasp of it <br /> could be incredibly intelligent <br /> or it could be foolishly incited. <br />