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.
There's something there
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
I was patrolling a Pachinko
Nude noodle model parlor in the Nefarious zone
Hanging out with insects under ducting
The C.I.A was on the phone
Well
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Such is life
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
The flower looks good in your hair
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
Nobody said it was fair, oh
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
The flower looks good in your hair
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
Nobody said it was fair
(La, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
The flower looks good in your hair
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
Nobody said it was fair
For the Zapatistas I'll rob my sisters
Of all the curtain and lace
Down at the bauxite mine
You get your own uniform
Have lunchtimes off
Take a monorail to your home
Checkmate, baby
God bless us and our home
Whereever we roam
Now take us home, flaquito
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
The flower looks good in your hair
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
Nobody said it was fair
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
The flower looks good in your hair
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
Nobody said it was fair
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
I was patrolling a Pachinko
Nude noodle model parlor in the Nefarious zone
Hanging out with insects under ducting
The C.I.A was on the phone
Well
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Such is life
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
The flower looks good in your hair
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
Nobody said it was fair, oh
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
The flower looks good in your hair
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
Nobody said it was fair
(La, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
The flower looks good in your hair
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
Nobody said it was fair
For the Zapatistas I'll rob my sisters
Of all the curtain and lace
Down at the bauxite mine
You get your own uniform
Have lunchtimes off
Take a monorail to your home
Checkmate, baby
God bless us and our home
Whereever we roam
Now take us home, flaquito
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
The flower looks good in your hair
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
Nobody said it was fair
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
The flower looks good in your hair
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
Nobody said it was fair
Latino caribo, mondo bongo
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
My interpretation: The narrator is a low-level gangster in the Yucatan area of Mexico that does business with the some corrupt entity. One night he is working security at an illegal gambling parlor when he receives orders to massacre some people (prisoners? strikers? innocent villagers?) at a bauxite mine. He is aware that his actions are terrible, but in an unstable climate he just shrugs, accepts the job, and accepts that his country is terminally corrupt and that life is unfair. One of those killed (either intentionally or accidentally) was a young woman.
A Pachinko is like a Japanese slot machine. "Nude noodle model parlor" means a bare and depressing room ("nude", "parlor") full of Japanese slot machines ("noodle model"). The "Nefarious zone" implies that the location is unsavory, like a vice den.
The "hanging out with insects under ducting" refers to the concept of a place being "bugged", meaning that a phone call or other audio is being covertly recorded. Usually, bugging implies that the body doing the spying is the government, but it doesn't have to be. "The CIA was on the phone" contributes to the gritty, illegal feel of the song. For those of you who may not be aware, the CIA is the Central Intelligence Agency in the United States, and this organization has been implicated (or downright confirmed to be) part of some particularly gruesome operations, including overthrowing democratically elected governments, and illegally selling weapons and drugs to terrorists and drug cartels. Exhibit A: The Iran-Contra affair: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Contra_affair
The music style (sort of a tango), plus references to Zapatistas, "latino caribo" implies that this story takes place somewhere in Latin America, specifically the Yucatan area of Mexico. Yes, I know the translation is "Caribbean Latino", but the south eastern side of Mexico touches the Caribbean sea. This also plays into a corrupt CIA, since this organization was infamous for causing havoc in Latin America.
//Latino caribo, mondo bongo //The flower looks good in your hair //Latino caribo, mondo bongo //Nobody said it was fair, oh
This goes back to the framing device: he stumbled upon the murdered body of an innocent young woman, who was either a victim of intentional violence or collateral damage. He thinks "the flower looks good in your hair" and "nobody said this was fair" as he is either pulling out the body or examining it ("There's something there").
A bongo is a pair of drums commonly used in Latin American music, but in some parts of the Americas "bongo" is also a slang term for crazy. I think this fits the story perfectly: this grotesque violence isn't just insanity, it's also so ingrained into the local culture that it's like a cultural music.
//Down at the bauxite mine //You get your own uniform //Have lunchtimes off //Take a monorail to your home
//Checkmate, baby //God bless us and our home //Whereever we roam
This is just recounting life from the perspective of the working grunt. "Down at the bauxite mine" makes me think that the wealthy authoritarians cracked down on mine workers who were striking for better working conditions. Generally, in these Banaba Republics, when workers striked for improvement in their human and worker's rights, the wealthy mine owners would collude with local cartels, the police or sometimes even the military to have the workers massacred. Here's a sad, real-life example of a similar occurrence in Mexico: libcom.org/news/article.php/mexico-police-shoot-strikers-270406
The narrator is a tool of oppression; he is being used as hired muscle to squash a strike or revolt of mine workers, but he views it as a "good deal" for himself: he gets a uniform, has a lunch break, and then gets to go home. It's like, he recognizes that what he is doing is terrible, but he lives in a world of atrocities, where violence is normalized. If you live in a poor country where resource distribution is scarce and the political situation unstable, just a simple job sounds like a win, or a "checkmate, baby". So what if that job is bashing in heads of people who don't want to be treated like slaves? (note: this is the explanation; I don't agree with this sentiment, just explaining my interpretation of the narrator).
"God bless us and our home" is just the narrator sarcastically acknowledging how messed up the whole situation is in his country.
@MaidOMetal Excellent analysis. Thank you for your contribution.