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.
I tried to be perfect
But nothing was worth it
I don't believe it makes me real
I thought it'd be easy
But no one believes me
I meant all the things I said
If you believe it's in my soul
I'd say all the words that I know
Just to see if it would show
That I'm trying to let you know
That I'm better off on my own
This place is so empty
My thoughts are so tempting
I don't know how it got so bad
Sometimes it's so crazy that nothing can save me
But it's the only thing that I have
If you believe it's in my soul
I'd say all the words that I know
Just to see if it would show
That I'm trying to let you know
That I'm better off on my own
(On my own)
I tried to be perfect
It just wasn't worth it
Nothing could ever be so wrong
It's hard to believe me
It never gets easy
I guess I knew that all along
If you believe it's in my soul
I'd say all the words that I know
Just to see if it would show
That I'm trying to let you know
That I'm better off on my own
But nothing was worth it
I don't believe it makes me real
I thought it'd be easy
But no one believes me
I meant all the things I said
If you believe it's in my soul
I'd say all the words that I know
Just to see if it would show
That I'm trying to let you know
That I'm better off on my own
This place is so empty
My thoughts are so tempting
I don't know how it got so bad
Sometimes it's so crazy that nothing can save me
But it's the only thing that I have
If you believe it's in my soul
I'd say all the words that I know
Just to see if it would show
That I'm trying to let you know
That I'm better off on my own
(On my own)
I tried to be perfect
It just wasn't worth it
Nothing could ever be so wrong
It's hard to believe me
It never gets easy
I guess I knew that all along
If you believe it's in my soul
I'd say all the words that I know
Just to see if it would show
That I'm trying to let you know
That I'm better off on my own
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OK, this may sound crazy to any other outsider, but doesn't this song remind anyone of eating disorders? As an eating disordered person, I can fully relate to this song. "I tried to be perfect" very obvious. "But nothing was worth it," it is about coming to your senses and realizing it is not worth losing your health, your friends, people's trust and more. "I don't believe it makes me real." the unrealistic goals you force yourself to reach. "I thought it'd be easy, But no one believes me, I meant all the things I said." you think you can reach out to people and ask for help, but eating disorders are seen as simply extreme dieting or/and attention seeking, so you are ignored and judged, and left alone once again.
"If you believe it's in my soul, I'd say all the words that I know, Just to see if it would show, That I'm trying to let you know, That I'm better off on my own." This whole verse explains the disordered's dilemma:once you find someone who believes you and will try to help you, you cannot part from the eating disorder, so you have to push them away. You lie and cheat and do things you don't expect from yourself and eventually are left alone, 'as you wanted'
"This place is so empty, My thoughts are so tempting," perfect explanation of how when you are alone, you sink even deeper in your despair and disordered thoughts become too prominent. "I don't know how it got so bad." eating disorders start simple and innocent, and spiral out of control:they consume you before you even figure out what's wrong with you. "Sometimes it's so crazy, That nothing can save me," it is about the frustration that comes from not being able to recover. Nothing's working, you're still sick, it's killing you. "But it's the only thing that I have." eating disorders have the tendency to arise as a replacement of something missing:lack of care and love, lack of control you have over your life, etc...
I tried to be perfect, It just wasn't worth it, "Nothing could ever be so wrong." it is very unnatural to your body to starve it, or force it's food back up, or force more food into it than it can handle, and more. It is unnatural to your mind, too. It's just wrong, abusing one of the main things you need to stay alive. "It's hard to believe me," explains how we DO know it's hard to understand, believe that this is an actual problem:one that can kill you. But it is. "It never gets easy, I guess I knew that all along." complete, full recovery from eating disorders are rare, (recovery is possible, but not completely) and you know this, you know that something that is taking over your life so harsh will never completely go away.
This song is so close to my heart. It sums up everything so perfectly. And it makes me feel a bit less alone.