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.
His head was a city
Of paper buildings
And the echoes that remained
Of old friends and lovers
Their features bleeding
Together in his brain
And once it started was harder to
Tell them apart
He was always distracted
By the very mention
Of an open door
'Cause he had sworn not to be what he'd been before
To be a remain remain remain remainder
The television was snowing softly
As she hunted for her keys
She said she never envisioned him the type of person capable of such deceit
And they carried on like long division
And it was clear with every page
That they were further away from a solution that would play
Without a remain remain remain remainder
He had sworn not to be what he'd been before
To be the remain remain remain remainder
Of paper buildings
And the echoes that remained
Of old friends and lovers
Their features bleeding
Together in his brain
And once it started was harder to
Tell them apart
He was always distracted
By the very mention
Of an open door
'Cause he had sworn not to be what he'd been before
To be a remain remain remain remainder
The television was snowing softly
As she hunted for her keys
She said she never envisioned him the type of person capable of such deceit
And they carried on like long division
And it was clear with every page
That they were further away from a solution that would play
Without a remain remain remain remainder
He had sworn not to be what he'd been before
To be the remain remain remain remainder
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
The best albums are the ones you can return to and always hear new things. "Narrow Stairs" has certainly entered that pantheon for me.
Just today, I heard the first line of this song differently: "His head was a city of paper buildings."
Before a building is actually built, it exists as a set of architectural drawings, a fully-detailed design on paper that is then rarely executed exactly as intended (or maybe not even built at all). So a whole "city of paper buildings" would be a mind burdened by many unresolved and beautiful plans, or good intentions that never come to fruition. The worst part is not only are these things burdensome, they're imaginary, because they don't physically exist. But oh, once it starts...
I think it fits in well with the "unresolved" nature of the long division metaphor (which has been thoroughly explained). Striving for the perfect solution to an unending problem is asking for toil and frustration.