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.
Another day dawn's grey
It's enough to make me spit
But we go on our way
Just putting up with it
And when I try to make my
Feelings known to you
You sound like you have changed from red to blue
You're a father now
You seen things in different ways
For every parent will
Gain perspective on their wilder days
But that alone does not explain
The change I see in you
The way you've drifted off from red to blue
Sometimes I think to myself
Should I vote red for my class
Or green for our children
But whatever choice I make I will not forsake
So you bought it all
The best your money could buy
And I watched you sell your soul
For their bright shining lie
Where are the principles
Of the friend I thought I knew
I guess you let them fade from red to blue
I hate the compromises
That life forces us to make
We all must all bend a little
If we are not to break
But the ideas you've opted out of
I still hold them to be true
I guess they weren't so firmly held by you
It's enough to make me spit
But we go on our way
Just putting up with it
And when I try to make my
Feelings known to you
You sound like you have changed from red to blue
You're a father now
You seen things in different ways
For every parent will
Gain perspective on their wilder days
But that alone does not explain
The change I see in you
The way you've drifted off from red to blue
Sometimes I think to myself
Should I vote red for my class
Or green for our children
But whatever choice I make I will not forsake
So you bought it all
The best your money could buy
And I watched you sell your soul
For their bright shining lie
Where are the principles
Of the friend I thought I knew
I guess you let them fade from red to blue
I hate the compromises
That life forces us to make
We all must all bend a little
If we are not to break
But the ideas you've opted out of
I still hold them to be true
I guess they weren't so firmly held by you
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!
Surely it can only be an "open letter" to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He was elected as a Socialist, but has largely abandoned traditional left-wing values and policies, to the dismay of many grass-roots socialists, including our Mr Bragg.