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.
Well, how come you only want tomorrow?
With its promise of something hard to do
A real-life adventure
Worth more than pieces of gold
Blue skies above, sun on your arms
Strength in your stride and hope in those squeaky-clean eyes
(Hope in those squeaky-clean eyes)
You'll get chilly receptions everywhere you go
Blinded with desire, I guess the season is on
So you train by shadow boxing, search for the truth
But it's all, but it's all used up
Break open your million-dollar weapon and push your luck
Still you push, still you push your luck
A broken-nosed mogul are you
One of the new-wave boys
Same old thing in brand, new drag
Comes sweeping into view, whoa, hoe, hoe, hoe, hoe, hoe
As ugly as a teenage millionaire
Pretending it's a whizz-kid world
You'll take me aside, and say
"Well, David, what shall I do?
They wait for me in the hallway"
I'll say, "Don't ask me, I don't know any hallways"
But they move in numbers and they've got me in a corner
I feel like a group of one
No, no, they can't do this to me
I'm not some piece of teenage wildlife
(Ooh, not some piece of teenage wildlife
Ooh, not some piece of teenage wildlife)
Those midwives to history put on their bloody robes
And the word is that the hunted one is out there on his own
And you're alone for maybe the last time
And you breathe for a long time
Then you howl like a wolf in a trap and you daren't look behind
You fall to the ground, like a leaf from a tree
And look up, one time, at that vast blue sky
Scream out of line as they shoot you down
No, no, I'm not a piece of teenage wildlife
I'm not a piece of teenage wildlife
(Ooh, not a piece teenage wildlife
Ooh, not a piece of teenage wildlife)
And no one will have seen and no one will confess
The fingerprints will prove that you couldn't pass the test
There'll be others on the line, filing past, who'll whisper low
"I miss you," he really had to go
Well, each to his own, he was another piece of teenage wildlife
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
'Nother piece of teenage wildlife
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
'Nother piece of teenage wildlife
(Ooo, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
Wildlife (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
Wildlife (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
Wildlife (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
Wildlife (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
Wildlife (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
Wildlife (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
Wildlife (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
(Ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife
Ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife
Ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
With its promise of something hard to do
A real-life adventure
Worth more than pieces of gold
Blue skies above, sun on your arms
Strength in your stride and hope in those squeaky-clean eyes
(Hope in those squeaky-clean eyes)
You'll get chilly receptions everywhere you go
Blinded with desire, I guess the season is on
So you train by shadow boxing, search for the truth
But it's all, but it's all used up
Break open your million-dollar weapon and push your luck
Still you push, still you push your luck
A broken-nosed mogul are you
One of the new-wave boys
Same old thing in brand, new drag
Comes sweeping into view, whoa, hoe, hoe, hoe, hoe, hoe
As ugly as a teenage millionaire
Pretending it's a whizz-kid world
You'll take me aside, and say
"Well, David, what shall I do?
They wait for me in the hallway"
I'll say, "Don't ask me, I don't know any hallways"
But they move in numbers and they've got me in a corner
I feel like a group of one
No, no, they can't do this to me
I'm not some piece of teenage wildlife
(Ooh, not some piece of teenage wildlife
Ooh, not some piece of teenage wildlife)
Those midwives to history put on their bloody robes
And the word is that the hunted one is out there on his own
And you're alone for maybe the last time
And you breathe for a long time
Then you howl like a wolf in a trap and you daren't look behind
You fall to the ground, like a leaf from a tree
And look up, one time, at that vast blue sky
Scream out of line as they shoot you down
No, no, I'm not a piece of teenage wildlife
I'm not a piece of teenage wildlife
(Ooh, not a piece teenage wildlife
Ooh, not a piece of teenage wildlife)
And no one will have seen and no one will confess
The fingerprints will prove that you couldn't pass the test
There'll be others on the line, filing past, who'll whisper low
"I miss you," he really had to go
Well, each to his own, he was another piece of teenage wildlife
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
'Nother piece of teenage wildlife
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
'Nother piece of teenage wildlife
(Ooo, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
Wildlife (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
Wildlife (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
Wildlife (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
Wildlife (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
Wildlife (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
Wildlife (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
Wildlife (ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
(Ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife
Ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife
Ooh, 'nother piece of teenage wildlife)
Lyrics submitted by saturnine, edited by joshuastorm832
Teenage Wildlife Lyrics as written by David Bowie
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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'Same old thing in brand, new drag Comes sweeping into view, whoa, hoe, hoe, hoe, hoe, hoe As ugly as a teenage millionaire Pretending it's a whizz-kid world'
Rumor has it that Bowie was referring to Gary Numan whom Bowie didn't really like much. Numan was being compared to Bowie at the time of this release.