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.
Walk across the courtyard, towards the library
I can hear the insects buzz and the leaves 'neath my feet
Ramble up the stairwell, into the hall of books
Since we got the interweb these hardly get used
Duck into the men's room, combing through my hair
When god gave us mirrors he had no idea
Looking for a lesson in the periodicals
There I spy you listening to the AM radio
Karen of the carpenters, singing in the rain
Another lovely victim of the mirror's evil way
It's not like you're not trying, with a pencil in your hair
To defy the beauty the good lord put in there
Simple little bookworm, buried underneath
Is the sexiest librarian
Take off those glasses and let down your hair for me
So I watch you thru the bookcase, imagining a scene
You and I at dinner, spending time, then to sleep
And what then would I say to you, lying there in bed?
These words, with a kiss, I would plant in your head
"What is it inside our heads that makes us do the opposite?
Makes us do the opposite of what's right for us?
Cause everything'd be great, and everything'd be good
If everybody gave like everybody could"
Sweetest little bookworm
Hidden underneath
Is the sexiest librarian
Take off those glasses and let down your hair for me
Take off those glasses and let down your hair for me
Simple little beauty, heaven in your breath
The simplest of pleasures, the world at it's best
I can hear the insects buzz and the leaves 'neath my feet
Ramble up the stairwell, into the hall of books
Since we got the interweb these hardly get used
Duck into the men's room, combing through my hair
When god gave us mirrors he had no idea
Looking for a lesson in the periodicals
There I spy you listening to the AM radio
Karen of the carpenters, singing in the rain
Another lovely victim of the mirror's evil way
It's not like you're not trying, with a pencil in your hair
To defy the beauty the good lord put in there
Simple little bookworm, buried underneath
Is the sexiest librarian
Take off those glasses and let down your hair for me
So I watch you thru the bookcase, imagining a scene
You and I at dinner, spending time, then to sleep
And what then would I say to you, lying there in bed?
These words, with a kiss, I would plant in your head
"What is it inside our heads that makes us do the opposite?
Makes us do the opposite of what's right for us?
Cause everything'd be great, and everything'd be good
If everybody gave like everybody could"
Sweetest little bookworm
Hidden underneath
Is the sexiest librarian
Take off those glasses and let down your hair for me
Take off those glasses and let down your hair for me
Simple little beauty, heaven in your breath
The simplest of pleasures, the world at it's best
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At first glance it's about society's attitude towards looks. Women have to have the hourglass figure, and men have to be buff. The narrator is looking at a girl. I guess she's smart, but she might just be above society's expectations of ditzy bitches. The author sees her as a natural beauty, either for her looks, or who she is - he's not clear.
I really like the line - what is it inside us that makes us do the opposite of what's right for us. All of us, especially in our youth, have sexual desires that may go against what we should do, or what we really want to do (sexual impulse is essentially an instinct - sexual impulses are determined by so many factors - I think life experiences play a major role).
Another interpretation of the same line - for me the girls I really want, and am not trying to manipulate are the hardest to approach. I'm so worried about treating them right instead of fucking them that I over analyze it. I screw it up because I don't want to hurt them. But if I would just lay back and be nonchalant like I am with the sluts then I'd get them. I wouldn't have to treat them like my fleshlight (that's a joke I don't really have a fleshlight).
Yall know what I'm saying. My parents aren't divorced, but that's only because my mom wouldn't do that to our family.
The way I look at it, marry the right one, or don't get married. You will only make it bad for yourself and your family in the long run.