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.
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Old Miss Lucy's dead and gone
Left me here to weep and moan
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Old Miss Lucy's dead and gone
Left me here to weep and moan
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Old Miss Lucy's dead and gone
Left me here to weep and moan
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Old Miss Lucy's dead and gone
Left me here to weep and moan
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Old Miss Lucy's dead and gone
Left me here to weep and moan
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Old Miss Lucy's dead and gone
Left me here to weep and moan
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Old Miss Lucy's dead and gone
Left me here to weep and moan
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Green Sally up and green Sally down
Last one squat, gotta tear the ground
Old Miss Lucy's dead and gone
Left me here to weep and moan
Lyrics submitted by moitio, edited by geoshockr, KatieCastro, kyla101
Flower Lyrics as written by Alan Lomax Richard Hall
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I like to think that this song is from a slave's point of view during the pre-civil war era. I don't know what "green sally" is referring too (sounds like "bring sally up, bring sally down") but "lift and squat, gonna tear the ground) sounds like working in fields. "Ol' Miss Lucy" might have been their previous "owner" and perhaps was nicer to them and "left me here to weep and moan" means the pain and suffering from heir new owner who perhaps is a little meaner. That's just what i get from it.