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.
Your sorry eyes, they cut through bone
They make it hard to leave you alone
Leave you here wearing your wounds
Waving your guns at somebody new
Baby, you're lost
Baby, you're lost
Baby, you're a lost cause
There's too many people you used to know
They see you coming, they see you go
They know your secrets and you know theirs
This town is crazy, nobody cares
Baby, you're lost
Baby, you're lost
Baby, you're a lost cause
I'm tired of fighting
I'm tired of fighting
Fighting for a lost cause
There's a place where you are going
You ain't never been before
No one laughing at your back now
No one standing at your door
That's what you thought love was for
Baby, you're lost
Baby, you're lost
Baby, you're a lost cause
I'm tired of fighting
I'm tired of fighting
Fighting for a lost cause
They make it hard to leave you alone
Leave you here wearing your wounds
Waving your guns at somebody new
Baby, you're lost
Baby, you're lost
Baby, you're a lost cause
There's too many people you used to know
They see you coming, they see you go
They know your secrets and you know theirs
This town is crazy, nobody cares
Baby, you're lost
Baby, you're lost
Baby, you're a lost cause
I'm tired of fighting
I'm tired of fighting
Fighting for a lost cause
There's a place where you are going
You ain't never been before
No one laughing at your back now
No one standing at your door
That's what you thought love was for
Baby, you're lost
Baby, you're lost
Baby, you're a lost cause
I'm tired of fighting
I'm tired of fighting
Fighting for a lost cause
Lyrics submitted by I Shoot Starz, edited by MuuCowOfDeath, guydeboredom
Lost Cause Lyrics as written by Beck David Hansen
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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i have to disagree with noliesjustloveXxX (although i understand its just an opinion) in august my boyfriend of 3 years and i broke up. he decided he didn't want a girlfriend anymore and i was devastated.
three months before, however, i remember listening to this song and feeling like i understood what Beck was trying to convey. Over those three years, I had put in the majority of the effort into the realationship in hopes that someday he would return it. I never felt like he loved me, but I loved him so much that I wanted it to work. Shortly after the breakup, I realized that there was nothing I could've done to make him change, no matter how much I loved him.
8 months later and we finally get around to exchanging each others things. He says he's been depressed and wants to be friends after 8 months of not even acknowledging my pressence. I decide to give it a shot and he tells me that we should get together sometime. Two weeks later, he's a show with another girl and doesn't say anything to me. This is when this song hit home. Things haven't really changed, he's still a lost cause. During those two weeks, I still was the one putting in the effort, and if we kept going it wouldn't be any different.
I think this is what happened with Beck. Its hard to keep going when you give your all and you don't receive it back. Love is about equality but some people just don't understand that and you can't change them, no matter how much you fight for it.
This is a brilliant song.