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.
I'm in a crisis, I need help
Come on mood shift, shift back to good again
Come on mood shift, shift back to good again
Come on be a friend
Nina Twin is trying to help, and I
Really hope that she succeeds
Though I picked the thorny path myself
I'm afraid, afraid of where it leads
Chemicals, don't strangle my pen
Chemicals don't make me sick again
I'm always so dubious of your intent
Like I can't afford to replace what you've spent
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Nina Twin is trying to help, and I
Really hope she gets me straight
'Cause my own inner cosmology
Has become too dense to navigate
I'm in a crisis, I need help
Come on mood shift, shift back to good again
Come on mood shift, shift back to good again
Come on be a friend
Come on be a friend
Two, three, four
Chemicals, don't flatten my mind
Chemicals, don't mess me up this time
Know you bait me way more than you should
And it's just like you to hurt me when I'm feeling good
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on mood shift, shift back to good again
Come on mood shift, shift back to good again
Come on be a friend
Nina Twin is trying to help, and I
Really hope that she succeeds
Though I picked the thorny path myself
I'm afraid, afraid of where it leads
Chemicals, don't strangle my pen
Chemicals don't make me sick again
I'm always so dubious of your intent
Like I can't afford to replace what you've spent
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Nina Twin is trying to help, and I
Really hope she gets me straight
'Cause my own inner cosmology
Has become too dense to navigate
I'm in a crisis, I need help
Come on mood shift, shift back to good again
Come on mood shift, shift back to good again
Come on be a friend
Come on be a friend
Two, three, four
Chemicals, don't flatten my mind
Chemicals, don't mess me up this time
Know you bait me way more than you should
And it's just like you to hurt me when I'm feeling good
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
Come on chemicals
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Yeah, I do not think he is talking about drugs but rather natural chemical shifts that cause anger, or depression, etc. The type we have no real direct control over. All the more supported by the urgency in his "come on mood-shift, shift back to good again."