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.
Hey little girl, is your daddy home?
Did he go and leave you all alone? Mhmm
I got a bad desire
Oh, oh, oh, I'm on fire
Tell me now, baby, is he good to you?
And can he do to you the things that I do? Oh no
I can take you higher
Oh, oh, oh, I'm on fire
Sometimes it's like someone took a knife, baby
Edgy and dull and cut a six inch valley
Through the middle of my skull
At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet
And a freight train running through the middle of my head
Only you can cool my desire
Oh, oh, oh, I'm on fire
Oh, oh, oh, I'm on fire
Oh, oh, oh, I'm on fire
Woo-ooh-ooh
Woo-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh
Woo-ooh-ooh
Woo-ooh-ooh
Did he go and leave you all alone? Mhmm
I got a bad desire
Oh, oh, oh, I'm on fire
Tell me now, baby, is he good to you?
And can he do to you the things that I do? Oh no
I can take you higher
Oh, oh, oh, I'm on fire
Sometimes it's like someone took a knife, baby
Edgy and dull and cut a six inch valley
Through the middle of my skull
At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet
And a freight train running through the middle of my head
Only you can cool my desire
Oh, oh, oh, I'm on fire
Oh, oh, oh, I'm on fire
Oh, oh, oh, I'm on fire
Woo-ooh-ooh
Woo-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh
Woo-ooh-ooh
Woo-ooh-ooh
Lyrics submitted by leaneys, edited by bobjank, supremetaco
I'm On Fire Lyrics as written by Bruce Springsteen
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I'll paraphrase Nick Cave, "Why do love, desire, and sex always have to be pure in music? Can't they be dark, dirty, and scary sometimes?"