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.
Let me tell you about my mountain home
Where all the ladies names are Joan
Where husband works back late at night
Hopes are up for trousers down
With hostess on a business flight
Taxi in a Mercedes drive
I hope that driver's coming out alive
The garden it is dorsetted
That lady she's so corseted
She's got 15 ways to lead that boy astray
He thinks he's one and only
But that lovely she's so lonely
She pumps him full of breakfast and she sends him on his way
What a sing song dance
What a performance
What a cheap tent show
Oh no no no no no
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Silently she opens the drawer
Mother's little helper is coming out for more
Strategically positioned before the midday show
Her back is arched, those lips are parched
Repeated blow by blow
Later at the party all the MP's rave
About the hummers she's been giving
And the money that they save
To her it is skin lotion
For him promotion to
That flat in surfers paradise with the ocean view
What a sing song dance
What a performance
What a cheap ten show
Oh no no no no no
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up
Where all the ladies names are Joan
Where husband works back late at night
Hopes are up for trousers down
With hostess on a business flight
Taxi in a Mercedes drive
I hope that driver's coming out alive
The garden it is dorsetted
That lady she's so corseted
She's got 15 ways to lead that boy astray
He thinks he's one and only
But that lovely she's so lonely
She pumps him full of breakfast and she sends him on his way
What a sing song dance
What a performance
What a cheap tent show
Oh no no no no no
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Silently she opens the drawer
Mother's little helper is coming out for more
Strategically positioned before the midday show
Her back is arched, those lips are parched
Repeated blow by blow
Later at the party all the MP's rave
About the hummers she's been giving
And the money that they save
To her it is skin lotion
For him promotion to
That flat in surfers paradise with the ocean view
What a sing song dance
What a performance
What a cheap ten show
Oh no no no no no
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up, light up, light up
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up (then the boys light up)
Then the boys light up
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classic mate.
fuckin'classic.