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.
Mama, we all go to hell
Mama, we all go to hell
I'm writing this letter and wishing you well
Mama, we all go to hell
Oh well now, Mama, we're all gonna die
Mama, we're all gonna die
Stop asking me questions, I'd hate to see you cry
Mama, we're all gonna die
And when we go don't blame us, yeah
We'll let the fires just bathe us, yeah
You made us oh so famous
We'll never let you go
And when you go don't return to me my love
Mama, we're all full of lies
Mama, we're meant for the flies
And right now they're building a coffin your size
Mama, we're all full of lies
Well mother what the war did to my legs and to my tongue
You should have raised a baby girl
I should've been a better son
If you could coddle the infection
They can amputate at once
You should've been
I could have been a better son
And when we go don't blame us, yeah
We'll let the fires just bathe us, yeah
You made us oh so famous
We'll never let you go
She said,you ain't no son of mine
For what you've done they're
Gonna find a place for you
And just you mind your manners when you go
And when you go don't return to me my love
That's right
Mama, we all go to hell
Mama, we all go to hell
It's really quite pleasant except for the smell
Mama, we all go to hell
Mama, mama, mama, ohh
Mama, mama, mama, ohh
And if you would call me your sweetheart
I'd maybe then sing you a song
But there's shit that I've done with this fuck of a gun
You would cry out your eyes all along
We're damned after all
Through fortune and fame we fall
And if you can stay then I'll show you the way
To return from the ashes you call
We all carry on
When our brothers in arms are gone
So raise your glass high for tomorrow we die
And return from the ashes you call
Mama, we all go to hell
I'm writing this letter and wishing you well
Mama, we all go to hell
Oh well now, Mama, we're all gonna die
Mama, we're all gonna die
Stop asking me questions, I'd hate to see you cry
Mama, we're all gonna die
And when we go don't blame us, yeah
We'll let the fires just bathe us, yeah
You made us oh so famous
We'll never let you go
And when you go don't return to me my love
Mama, we're all full of lies
Mama, we're meant for the flies
And right now they're building a coffin your size
Mama, we're all full of lies
Well mother what the war did to my legs and to my tongue
You should have raised a baby girl
I should've been a better son
If you could coddle the infection
They can amputate at once
You should've been
I could have been a better son
And when we go don't blame us, yeah
We'll let the fires just bathe us, yeah
You made us oh so famous
We'll never let you go
She said,you ain't no son of mine
For what you've done they're
Gonna find a place for you
And just you mind your manners when you go
And when you go don't return to me my love
That's right
Mama, we all go to hell
Mama, we all go to hell
It's really quite pleasant except for the smell
Mama, we all go to hell
Mama, mama, mama, ohh
Mama, mama, mama, ohh
And if you would call me your sweetheart
I'd maybe then sing you a song
But there's shit that I've done with this fuck of a gun
You would cry out your eyes all along
We're damned after all
Through fortune and fame we fall
And if you can stay then I'll show you the way
To return from the ashes you call
We all carry on
When our brothers in arms are gone
So raise your glass high for tomorrow we die
And return from the ashes you call
Lyrics submitted by AbsolutionAgent_gMs, edited by SmashingDestiny
Mama Lyrics as written by Frank Iero Bob Bryar
Lyrics © BLOW THE DOORS OFF CHICAGO, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Another amazing song My belief on it, not knowing if this is right or not, but this is based on one of the other characters of the album. How he is (possibly) sent off to war. He's saying that they are all going to go to hell for all the death they had done and for all of the death they had witnessed.
Maybe the line 'Well mother what the war did to my legs and to my tongue. You shoulda raised a baby girl. I shoulda been a better son' means that the mother should have given birth to a baby girl because women never went to war - or well, they did as nurses an such, but they never went off to fight. Maybe he's saying to his mother that she should have had a girl because all this war, all this fighting is tearing this 'mother war' apart. Imagine if your son had to amputate his legs, of cause it would break anyones heart. This would explain the crying at the end. Again, i'm not sure, this is just my two cents.