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.
twenty eight
tell me are you single yet
my heart's as big as texas
it'd take more than just a lingual threat
to get this pest to let live
at best he'll need a sedative
and strap him to a steady bed
at worst it's he's already dead
the first time folks have heard this
a song of these: the bone dry jokes
from the grown kid's spokesmen's notebooks
lil pone go slow and hollow
like an empty rowboat looks
left to float alone it follows
where any air goes, it's took
tell me are you single yet
my heart's as big as texas
it'd take more than just a lingual threat
to get this pest to let live
at best he'll need a sedative
and strap him to a steady bed
at worst it's he's already dead
the first time folks have heard this
a song of these: the bone dry jokes
from the grown kid's spokesmen's notebooks
lil pone go slow and hollow
like an empty rowboat looks
left to float alone it follows
where any air goes, it's took
Lyrics submitted by oh ok
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the first two lines pretty much sum this up. sounds like he's still hung up on a girl who doesn't want to get into a relationship with him and he's too in love to let go. explains that his "heart's as big as texas" - i.e. how genuine his feelings are and how much he feels he can offer - and that it'll take a lot for him to give up on those feelings. until then, he'll carry on with life as usual, alone, getting by, but feeling empty and unfulfilled without her. thematically serves as a nice introduction to Simeon's Dilemma which kind of seems along the same lines.