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.
I know you cannot hear me now
'Cause you're fast asleep, but I love you know
Colors inside your head go spinning around
Like a Ferris wheel
Exploding and falling to the ground
Oh, people are screaming, people are screaming
My baby, she's dreaming
Oh, people are shouting, people are freaking
When she comes
I know that she's the one
Makes me want it harder
Makes me want to be a little stronger
Still I see monsters
Still I see monsters
I know you cannot hear me now
'Cause you're far away at the speed of sound
Colors inside your head go spinning 'round
Like a ferris wheel
Exploding and falling to the ground
Oh, people are screaming, people are screaming
My baby she's dreaming
Oh, people are shouting, people are freaking
I'm staring at the ceiling waiting for the feeling
Makes me want it harder, makes me want to be a little stronger
Still I see monsters
Still I see monsters
'Cause you're fast asleep, but I love you know
Colors inside your head go spinning around
Like a Ferris wheel
Exploding and falling to the ground
Oh, people are screaming, people are screaming
My baby, she's dreaming
Oh, people are shouting, people are freaking
When she comes
I know that she's the one
Makes me want it harder
Makes me want to be a little stronger
Still I see monsters
Still I see monsters
I know you cannot hear me now
'Cause you're far away at the speed of sound
Colors inside your head go spinning 'round
Like a ferris wheel
Exploding and falling to the ground
Oh, people are screaming, people are screaming
My baby she's dreaming
Oh, people are shouting, people are freaking
I'm staring at the ceiling waiting for the feeling
Makes me want it harder, makes me want to be a little stronger
Still I see monsters
Still I see monsters
Lyrics submitted by BlueAndStarry, edited by aoranen
I See Monsters Lyrics as written by Ryan Adams
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think this song could be ambiguous and relate to drugs, if we recall the dark times in which it was written and recorded.
As mentioned already, - to me - the song is about this guy who is in a relationship in which he knows "that she's the one" and yet he's scared, he communicates his deepest thoughts with her when she's "fast asleep" and "far away at the speed of sound", and he talks to her at these deep hours of the night and tells her all that is on his mind and how he truly feels.
He's indicated that when he's with her, he feels safe, like he has everything and she makes him want to be a better person, because he admits that he needs to work harder for them. However, something keeps getting in the way (possibly, himself) and it's keeping in trapped in his own self-destructive cycle. -- "Still I see monsters"