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.
The kettle burned cause I left it too long
And we were kissing with the radio on
The cat was choking on a rattle snake bone
The town had gathered round the soldier boy carried home
Carried home
The sick kids ate up all the red clay
And every summer there was imminent rain
The late judge teetered in a john boat
The town had gathered round the soldier boy carried home
Carried home
The broken window and the pretty blue sky
And cold water for my swollen black eye
We shook some money from your mother's old clothes
When all had gathered round the soldier boy carried home
Carried home [Repeat: x16]
And we were kissing with the radio on
The cat was choking on a rattle snake bone
The town had gathered round the soldier boy carried home
Carried home
The sick kids ate up all the red clay
And every summer there was imminent rain
The late judge teetered in a john boat
The town had gathered round the soldier boy carried home
Carried home
The broken window and the pretty blue sky
And cold water for my swollen black eye
We shook some money from your mother's old clothes
When all had gathered round the soldier boy carried home
Carried home [Repeat: x16]
Lyrics submitted by smallwonderrobot
Carried Home Lyrics as written by Samuel Ervin Beam
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"And every summer there was eminent rain" should be in between the "sick kids" line and the "late judge"... I get the idea that it's like... describing all of these bad things that happen when the town is gathering around this, i'm assuming dead, soldier being carried home... It's almost like... well... people think of soldiers, usually, to be glorious or brave people, and they're distracted by the death of something good. They don't realize the things that are happening when they're focusing on the death... almost like they're oblivious to it. they're paying too much attention to glory... or death... not sure which yet.