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.
Sometimes all I really want to feel is love
Sometimes I'm angry that I feel so angry
Sometimes my feelings get in the way
Of what I really feel I needed to say
If you stand in a circle
Then you'll all have a back to bite
Backlogged books on the seven wonders
We're all so funny but he's lost his joke now
Our communication found in one-line jokes
from stand up comics and rock musicians
Making so much noise you don't know when to listen...
Why are you judging people so damn hard?
You're taking your point of views a bit too far
I made my shoes shine with black coal
But the polish didn't shine the hole
If you stand in a circle
Then you'll all have a back to bite
Backlogged books on the seven wonders
We're all so funny but he's lost his joke now
Our communication found in one-line jokes
From stand up comics and rock musicians
Making so much noise you don't know when to listen...
Think it over
There's an air of height in the high-rollers;
They never get shit
Sometimes I'm angry that I feel so angry
Sometimes my feelings get in the way
Of what I really feel I needed to say
If you stand in a circle
Then you'll all have a back to bite
Backlogged books on the seven wonders
We're all so funny but he's lost his joke now
Our communication found in one-line jokes
from stand up comics and rock musicians
Making so much noise you don't know when to listen...
Why are you judging people so damn hard?
You're taking your point of views a bit too far
I made my shoes shine with black coal
But the polish didn't shine the hole
If you stand in a circle
Then you'll all have a back to bite
Backlogged books on the seven wonders
We're all so funny but he's lost his joke now
Our communication found in one-line jokes
From stand up comics and rock musicians
Making so much noise you don't know when to listen...
Think it over
There's an air of height in the high-rollers;
They never get shit
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