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.
[spoken:] The story of the pigs who ran straightaway into the water and their great triumph
You're gonna send me back to where I came from
Please don't send me back to where I came from
Let me go where the white magnolias grow
You're gonna fit me for that orange jumpsuit
Please don't fit me for that orange jumpsuit
Let me ride where the dragonflies glide
Yeah but you're going to do what you wanna do
No matter what I ask of you
You think you hold the high hand
I've got my doubts
I come from Chino where the asphalt sprouts
Big bus headed southeast from the courthouse
But I'm not headed southeast from the courthouse
Let some mysterious chunk of space debris
Puncture the roof and set me free
And even if I have to go to Claremont
Well I guess I'll just have to go to Claremont
Let me go
Let me lie low
Yeah but you're going to do what you wanna do
No matter what I ask of you
And you send your dark messengers to tempt me
I come from Chino so all your threats are empty
You're gonna send me back to where I came from
Please don't send me back to where I came from
Let me go where the white magnolias grow
You're gonna fit me for that orange jumpsuit
Please don't fit me for that orange jumpsuit
Let me ride where the dragonflies glide
Yeah but you're going to do what you wanna do
No matter what I ask of you
You think you hold the high hand
I've got my doubts
I come from Chino where the asphalt sprouts
Big bus headed southeast from the courthouse
But I'm not headed southeast from the courthouse
Let some mysterious chunk of space debris
Puncture the roof and set me free
And even if I have to go to Claremont
Well I guess I'll just have to go to Claremont
Let me go
Let me lie low
Yeah but you're going to do what you wanna do
No matter what I ask of you
And you send your dark messengers to tempt me
I come from Chino so all your threats are empty
Lyrics submitted by I'm a Pirate
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As the last song of an album centered around drug addiction, it's the inevitable final descent for a life that's been swirling around the toilet bowl for 12 songs. Some of his companions are still circling the drain, others are already gone; one way or the other, but here he is on the edge, about to be sucked through. A madcap swan song, with the protagonist still unable to believe or trust in salvation and optimistic that he will be saved from it.