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.
A little past supper-time
I'm still out on the porch step sitting on my behind,
Waiting for you.
Wondering if everything is alright.
Momma said, "Come in boy, don't waste your time." I said, "I've got time.
Well, he'll be here soon."
Five years old and talking to myself.
Where were you? Where'd you go?
Daddy, can't you tell?
I'm not trying to fake it
And I ain't the one to blame.
There's no one home
In my house of pain.
I didn't write these pages
And my script's been rearranged.
No, there's no one home
In my house of pain
Wasn't I worth the time?
A boy needs a daddy like a dance to mime and all the time
I looked up to you.
I paced my room a million times.
And all I ever got was one big lie, the same old lie.
How could you?
Well, I was eighteen and still talking to myself.
Where were you? Where'd you go?
Daddy can't you tell?
I'm not trying to fake it
And I ain't the one to blame.
There's no one home
In my house of pain
I didn't write these pages
And my script's been rearranged.
No, there's no one home
In my house of pain
[Repeat]
And I'm alone again
Well, if I learned anything from this... It's how to live on my own.
I'm still out on the porch step sitting on my behind,
Waiting for you.
Wondering if everything is alright.
Momma said, "Come in boy, don't waste your time." I said, "I've got time.
Well, he'll be here soon."
Five years old and talking to myself.
Where were you? Where'd you go?
Daddy, can't you tell?
I'm not trying to fake it
And I ain't the one to blame.
There's no one home
In my house of pain.
I didn't write these pages
And my script's been rearranged.
No, there's no one home
In my house of pain
Wasn't I worth the time?
A boy needs a daddy like a dance to mime and all the time
I looked up to you.
I paced my room a million times.
And all I ever got was one big lie, the same old lie.
How could you?
Well, I was eighteen and still talking to myself.
Where were you? Where'd you go?
Daddy can't you tell?
I'm not trying to fake it
And I ain't the one to blame.
There's no one home
In my house of pain
I didn't write these pages
And my script's been rearranged.
No, there's no one home
In my house of pain
[Repeat]
And I'm alone again
Well, if I learned anything from this... It's how to live on my own.
Lyrics submitted by Charlie the man
House of Pain Lyrics as written by Howard Leslie Shore
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I can't believe I haven't commented on this song yet. This is one of a very few songs that are intensely personal to me, but I can rarely listen to it, because it's just too difficult for me.
I grew up with a father who ignored me. He had time for hobbies, girlfriends, and everything else but his son. He always had better places to go after work than home. So yeah, I can relate to the message in this song.
In the mid-1990s, when I was an adult, and after I'd given up on him completely, I gave this song to him by putting it on a cassette tape and leaving the tape in his mailbox. He spoke to my mother some time later and claimed that the tape had nothing on it. Great guy.