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.
Chimney falls and lovers blaze
Thought that I was young
Now I've freezing hands
And bloodless veins
As numb as I've become
I'm so tired
I wish I was the moon tonight
Last night I dreamt I'd forgotten my name
'Cause I sold my soul
But I woke just the same
I'm so lonely
I wish I was the moon tonight
God blessed me I'm a free man
With no place free to go
Paralyzed and collared-tight
No pills for what I fear
This is crazy
I wish I was the moon tonight
Chimney falls as lovers blaze
I thought that I was young
Now I've freezing hands
And bloodless veins
As numb as I've become
I'm so tired
I wish I was the moon tonight
How will you know if you've found me at last?
'Cause I'll be the one be the one be the one
With my heart in my lap
I'm so tired
I'm so tired
And I wish I was the moon tonight
I'm so tired
I'm so tired
And I wish I was the moon
I'm so tired
I'm so tired
And I wish I was the moon tonight
Thought that I was young
Now I've freezing hands
And bloodless veins
As numb as I've become
I'm so tired
I wish I was the moon tonight
Last night I dreamt I'd forgotten my name
'Cause I sold my soul
But I woke just the same
I'm so lonely
I wish I was the moon tonight
God blessed me I'm a free man
With no place free to go
Paralyzed and collared-tight
No pills for what I fear
This is crazy
I wish I was the moon tonight
Chimney falls as lovers blaze
I thought that I was young
Now I've freezing hands
And bloodless veins
As numb as I've become
I'm so tired
I wish I was the moon tonight
How will you know if you've found me at last?
'Cause I'll be the one be the one be the one
With my heart in my lap
I'm so tired
I'm so tired
And I wish I was the moon tonight
I'm so tired
I'm so tired
And I wish I was the moon
I'm so tired
I'm so tired
And I wish I was the moon tonight
Lyrics submitted by _scandalous, edited by smallwonderrobot
I Wish I Was the Moon Lyrics as written by Merle Travis Ned Fairchild
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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"chimney falls and lovers blaze" brings to my mind the image of the two lovers falling out of the lightning-struck tower often found in tarot decks... the tense of "falls" could be pointing to that moment, the low-point, when the speaker realizes that he (or maybe she) is "lost" after having "sold" themselves, and the flood of loneliness accompanying this realization... the entire song is steeped in a kind of loneliness, but it's a beautiful solitude (amplified, of course, by neko's vocals and the guitar/string work here), much like the image of the wolf or coyote on the ledge, looking up at the moon... here, it is neko "howling" that primal feeling, the knowledge that one is always alone ("thought that I was young"), the innocence that always has been lost..