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.
A long, long time ago,
In the land of idiot boys,
There live a cat, a phenomenal cat,
Who loved to wallow all day.
No one bothered him
As he sat, content in his tree.
He just lived to eat 'cause it kept him fat,
And that's how he wanted to stay.
Though he was big and fat,
All the world was good to him,
And he pointed out on the map
All the places he had been.
[Cowes, Cathage,Karthom,Cannes?], [India,Sardinia?], Kathmandu,
The Scilley Isles and Sahara, too
Fum, fum, diddle-um di
La la la la, la-la la la
La la la la, la-la la la la
La la la la-la la la
Once when he was thin
He had flown to old Hong Kong,
And had learned the secret of life,
And the sea and the sky beyond.
So he gave up his diet and sat in a tree,
And ate himself through eternity.
Fum, fum, diddle-um di
La la la la la-la la la
La la la la, la-la la la la
La la la la-la la la
Fum, fum, diddle-um di
Fum, fum, diddle-um di
In the land of idiot boys,
There live a cat, a phenomenal cat,
Who loved to wallow all day.
No one bothered him
As he sat, content in his tree.
He just lived to eat 'cause it kept him fat,
And that's how he wanted to stay.
Though he was big and fat,
All the world was good to him,
And he pointed out on the map
All the places he had been.
[Cowes, Cathage,Karthom,Cannes?], [India,Sardinia?], Kathmandu,
The Scilley Isles and Sahara, too
Fum, fum, diddle-um di
La la la la, la-la la la
La la la la, la-la la la la
La la la la-la la la
Once when he was thin
He had flown to old Hong Kong,
And had learned the secret of life,
And the sea and the sky beyond.
So he gave up his diet and sat in a tree,
And ate himself through eternity.
Fum, fum, diddle-um di
La la la la la-la la la
La la la la, la-la la la la
La la la la-la la la
Fum, fum, diddle-um di
Fum, fum, diddle-um di
Lyrics submitted by Half Blind
Phenomenal Cat Lyrics as written by Raymond Douglas Davies
Lyrics © Abkco Music Inc., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I've always assumed the places he went to were meant to be puns ... Sardin-ia and Kat-hmandu are obvious, and maybe Cowes for milk, but what about the Scilly Isles and Sahara?
I'll ask him this weekend if that's what he thinks:) Maybe you don't recognize Scilly Isles and Sahara because they're real. Just saying.