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 a light bulb dangling from string
It's slowly swaying up over my head now
As I jot down the words that'll never be sung
And wait for my headache to numb
And the wind sounds as if the world's sighing
And the moon's just a torn fingernail
As the TV flickers and hums by the wall
And I wait for my eyesight to fade
So, So, So
It's so damn slow
So, So, So
It's so damn slow
And the bright-eyed choke on ambition
And the old folks circle their graves
And the young ones are busy destroying their names
And you're still just wasting away.
I sit and watch the screen for a message
Some kinda sign that says we're OK
But the screen stays blank till I turn the thing off
And wait for my conscience to break.
So, So, So
It's so damn slow
So, So, So
It's so damn slow
I hope you're learning to listen
And I hope you're learning to stay
And I hope you find what you're missing
And I hope that you're making you're way
I'm a headcase if I don't keep moving
And my head hurts if I don't sit still
It's an itch that I'll never stop scratching
It's a hole that I'll never quite fill
So
It's slowly swaying up over my head now
As I jot down the words that'll never be sung
And wait for my headache to numb
And the wind sounds as if the world's sighing
And the moon's just a torn fingernail
As the TV flickers and hums by the wall
And I wait for my eyesight to fade
So, So, So
It's so damn slow
So, So, So
It's so damn slow
And the bright-eyed choke on ambition
And the old folks circle their graves
And the young ones are busy destroying their names
And you're still just wasting away.
I sit and watch the screen for a message
Some kinda sign that says we're OK
But the screen stays blank till I turn the thing off
And wait for my conscience to break.
So, So, So
It's so damn slow
So, So, So
It's so damn slow
I hope you're learning to listen
And I hope you're learning to stay
And I hope you find what you're missing
And I hope that you're making you're way
I'm a headcase if I don't keep moving
And my head hurts if I don't sit still
It's an itch that I'll never stop scratching
It's a hole that I'll never quite fill
So
Lyrics submitted by shawnzy, edited by Walz, Mechanical Bird
Insomnia Lyrics as written by Matthew Kelly Sharp
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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Somehow, I'd associate it with an adult ranging within parenthood, somewhere during mid-life crisis.
All moments of ambitions gone, the persona scribbles down memoirs while waiting on their headache; the wind echoing in the empty rooms where the children once were in. The moon had lost its significance as an object of mystery.
The persona reflects on the world today; How the studious try too hard, how the elderly reach resolution and how the immature still remain oblivious.
The persona was suddenly reminded of their grownup children out there, but failed to get in touch with them; then resolve it by hoping them the best.
Then finally, the persona attempts to reach resolution with themselves, evaluating their life that moment. They realize they've done most of what they could do in life incompleted, end it with "So... ?" as they continue lying awake.
I think it's just about insomnia. Been there. Done that. Doin' it now:)