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.
Are you passionate?
Are you livin' like you talk?
Are you dreamin' now
That you're goin' to the top?
Are you negative,
In a world that never stops,
Turnin' on you?
Turnin' on me?
Turnin' on you?
Are you loving it?
Can you ever get enough of it?
Is it everything?
A love that never stops,
Comin' to you?
Comin' to me?
Comin' to you?
Once I was a soldier,
I was fighting in the sky,
And the gunfire kept
Comin' back on me.
So I dove into the darkness,
And I let my missles fly.
And they might be the ones,
That kept you free.
Once I was a prisoner,
I was riding in a truck,
Cleaned up for public display.
I looked at those around me,
And when they looked at me,
I let them see my soul that day.
Are you scared of it?
Do you wish that it would stop?
Does it bother you
When you hear your spirit talk?
Well I'm right with you,
Yes I'm right with you.
It's working on me,
It's working on you.
It's working on me.
Are you livin' like you talk?
Are you dreamin' now
That you're goin' to the top?
Are you negative,
In a world that never stops,
Turnin' on you?
Turnin' on me?
Turnin' on you?
Are you loving it?
Can you ever get enough of it?
Is it everything?
A love that never stops,
Comin' to you?
Comin' to me?
Comin' to you?
Once I was a soldier,
I was fighting in the sky,
And the gunfire kept
Comin' back on me.
So I dove into the darkness,
And I let my missles fly.
And they might be the ones,
That kept you free.
Once I was a prisoner,
I was riding in a truck,
Cleaned up for public display.
I looked at those around me,
And when they looked at me,
I let them see my soul that day.
Are you scared of it?
Do you wish that it would stop?
Does it bother you
When you hear your spirit talk?
Well I'm right with you,
Yes I'm right with you.
It's working on me,
It's working on you.
It's working on me.
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Just commenting because I want more people to listen to this song! A fantastic song that asks some of the deepest questions about the human condition. Just thought that I'd add that apparently the ancient Greeks would ask one question on a mans death: “Did he live with passion?”.
Also that it took me a long time listening to the song before I could hear the lyrics - somehow the washed over me and I got a bit of a shock the first time I "really heard them"<br /> <br /> "Once I was a prisoner,<br /> I was riding in a truck,<br /> Cleaned up for public display.<br /> I looked at those around me,<br /> And when they looked at me,<br /> I let them see my soul that day."<br />