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.
We turned the dial, we heard the news and laughed, we don't know why
We drank the wine and spoke of times we knew of days gone by
We flicked through photographs we had, somehow they made us sad
Remembering the times we used to have, it made us cry
Oh I remember death in the afternoon
A silence fell about the room with harsh and heavy calm
The lovers and the friends all felt the same, it kept us warm
We raised our glass and drank to times we had, but'd see no more
The pictures of the past would haunt us still, and there remains
Oh I remember death in the afternoon
We drank the wine and spoke of times we knew of days gone by
We flicked through photographs we had, somehow they made us sad
Remembering the times we used to have, it made us cry
Oh I remember death in the afternoon
A silence fell about the room with harsh and heavy calm
The lovers and the friends all felt the same, it kept us warm
We raised our glass and drank to times we had, but'd see no more
The pictures of the past would haunt us still, and there remains
Oh I remember death in the afternoon
Lyrics submitted by MrLongrove, edited by IniquitatisRex
I Remember (Death in the Afternoon) Lyrics as written by Midge Ure Christopher Thomas Allen
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
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I picture a dreary post-World War2 Europe. Perhaps the song writer is reminiscing about the times he had just before the war.
If there is such a thing as the perfect song then I Remember [Death In The Afternoon] is it!