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.
Keep you in the dark
You know they all pretend
Keep you in the dark
And so it all began
Send in your skeletons
Sing as their bones go marching in, again
The need you buried deep
The secrets that you keep are ever ready
Are you ready?
I'm finished making sense
Done pleading ignorance
That whole defense
Spinning infinity, boy
The wheel is spinning me
It's never-ending, never-ending
Same old story
What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say I will never surrender?
What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?
In time our soul untold
I'm just another soul for sale, oh well
The page is out of print
We are not permanent
We're temporary, temporary
Same old story
What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?
What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say I will never surrender?
I'm the voice inside your head
You refuse to hear
Yeah, I'm the face that you have to face
Mirrored in your stare
I'm what's left, I'm what's right
I'm the enemy
I'm the hand that will take you down
Bring you to your knees
So who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Keep you in the dark
You know they all pretend
What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say I will never surrender?
What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?
What if I say I'm not like the others? (Keep you in the dark)
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays? (You know they all pretend)
You're the pretender (who dares)
What if I say I will never surrender?
What if I say I'm not like the others? (keep you in the dark)
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays? (You know they all pretend)
You're the pretender (who dares)
What if I say I will never surrender?
So who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
You know they all pretend
Keep you in the dark
And so it all began
Send in your skeletons
Sing as their bones go marching in, again
The need you buried deep
The secrets that you keep are ever ready
Are you ready?
I'm finished making sense
Done pleading ignorance
That whole defense
Spinning infinity, boy
The wheel is spinning me
It's never-ending, never-ending
Same old story
What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say I will never surrender?
What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?
In time our soul untold
I'm just another soul for sale, oh well
The page is out of print
We are not permanent
We're temporary, temporary
Same old story
What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?
What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say I will never surrender?
I'm the voice inside your head
You refuse to hear
Yeah, I'm the face that you have to face
Mirrored in your stare
I'm what's left, I'm what's right
I'm the enemy
I'm the hand that will take you down
Bring you to your knees
So who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Keep you in the dark
You know they all pretend
What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say I will never surrender?
What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?
What if I say I'm not like the others? (Keep you in the dark)
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays? (You know they all pretend)
You're the pretender (who dares)
What if I say I will never surrender?
What if I say I'm not like the others? (keep you in the dark)
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays? (You know they all pretend)
You're the pretender (who dares)
What if I say I will never surrender?
So who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Lyrics submitted by intothegrinder2, edited by kobe107, SomebodyElse01
The Pretender Lyrics as written by David Eric Grohl Christopher A. Shiflett
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Well, I hate politics.. so even if many people interpret is as something political.. EK! Haha, I find a meaning that is.. I'm horrible with words.. it's like someone challenges who he is, and he is standing his ground and saying he will never give in and surrender (to whatever you can relate to). I think one of the things he refuses is to be like everyone else in the typical 'guy' way. He's telling a girl, no matter how much she might put a stamp on his head that he's just like everyone else, he says he doesn't care what she thinks. Who is she to say who he is? He believes he can give more than that. I like to think of it without the relationhip ties, though. As in, someone is challenging you for who you are and what you stand for and you get up off the ground, state your purpose and hold your own. As in, someone is finally questioning you and you have enough sense of self and security to stand up and prove yourself. Beautiful. And MOVING.
You are not wrong. You are not bad with words. This is what I think, also. You said it much better than I would have, perhaps because it struck home with me too deeply.
I'm not to this point in my life, where I can stick up for what I believe I am doing! But I really agree with this!!! And politics are yucky!