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.
I just got back from the border
And what I saw made me know for sure
We're out of order
I had a dream about New Orleans
At Jackson Square I heard their prayer
Down in New Orleans
On the run, there's a life for livin'
But the people there, they just don't care
Livin' their life like a millionaire
Down on the border
You never see me in old Iran
The women there don't know who I am
In old Iran
And I never will go to Singapore
The people there will cut your hair
In Singapore
On their streets there's a life of plenty
Oh but they'll never know about the freedom show
Their livin' in darkness years ago down on the border
They built a wall at the border
Not to keep us out
But to leave no doubt
They're out of order, hey
And all the people who are trapped within
Serve to show just how far we'll go
And how dumb we've been
At the top life looks so easy
But they'll never know what they'll never know
They're much too busy countin' all their dough
From the border
And what I saw made me know for sure
We're out of order
I had a dream about New Orleans
At Jackson Square I heard their prayer
Down in New Orleans
On the run, there's a life for livin'
But the people there, they just don't care
Livin' their life like a millionaire
Down on the border
You never see me in old Iran
The women there don't know who I am
In old Iran
And I never will go to Singapore
The people there will cut your hair
In Singapore
On their streets there's a life of plenty
Oh but they'll never know about the freedom show
Their livin' in darkness years ago down on the border
They built a wall at the border
Not to keep us out
But to leave no doubt
They're out of order, hey
And all the people who are trapped within
Serve to show just how far we'll go
And how dumb we've been
At the top life looks so easy
But they'll never know what they'll never know
They're much too busy countin' all their dough
From the border
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Another song about the eternal agitator who cannot find the proper, or ven decent, kind of tomato paste to make the day go smoothly