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.
As the sun hides his head
For another night's rest
And the wind sings
His same old song
And you on the edge
Never close, never far
Always there when I needed a friend
Yet it's hard living life
On this memory-go-round
Always up, always down
Spinning 'round and 'round and 'round
And all this could be
Just a dream so it seems
I was never much good at goodbye
There once was a time
Never far from my mind
On the beach, on the 4th of July
I remember the sand
How you held out your hand
And we touched for what seemed a lifetime
Now it's hard
Leaving all this behind me now
Like a schoolboy so lost
Never found until now
And all this could be
Just a dream so it seems
I was never much good at goodbye
Yet it's hard
Living life on this memory-go-round
Always up, always down
Turning 'round and 'round and 'round
And all this could be
Just a dream so it seems
I was never much good at goodbye
And all this could be
Just a dream so it seems
I was never much good at goodbye
Goodbye
For another night's rest
And the wind sings
His same old song
And you on the edge
Never close, never far
Always there when I needed a friend
Yet it's hard living life
On this memory-go-round
Always up, always down
Spinning 'round and 'round and 'round
And all this could be
Just a dream so it seems
I was never much good at goodbye
There once was a time
Never far from my mind
On the beach, on the 4th of July
I remember the sand
How you held out your hand
And we touched for what seemed a lifetime
Now it's hard
Leaving all this behind me now
Like a schoolboy so lost
Never found until now
And all this could be
Just a dream so it seems
I was never much good at goodbye
Yet it's hard
Living life on this memory-go-round
Always up, always down
Turning 'round and 'round and 'round
And all this could be
Just a dream so it seems
I was never much good at goodbye
And all this could be
Just a dream so it seems
I was never much good at goodbye
Goodbye
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the best song of any hair band in the 80\'s