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 read in the paper today
It's been a record year for rainfall
And you were leaning against the bathroom wall
In your lonely dress
Was your only dress
Stand accusing across
I've got a temper set for tender
And you were shrugging it off like a feather
Saying, "Oh, would you look at this weather?"
What's the use of all of this?
It's to remember you in the entire
Because I'm watching it slip away
And in the annals of the Empire
Did it look this gray?
Before the fall
Before the fall
So rake your thumbnail across
The stretch of the patina
Revealing a Proserpina
In a low recline
In a steep decline
What's the use of all of this?
It's to remember you in the entire
Because I'm watching it slip away
And in the annals of the Empire
Did it look this gray?
Does it look so gray?
Does it always look so gray?
Before the fall
Before the fall
It's been a record year for rainfall
And you were leaning against the bathroom wall
In your lonely dress
Was your only dress
Stand accusing across
I've got a temper set for tender
And you were shrugging it off like a feather
Saying, "Oh, would you look at this weather?"
What's the use of all of this?
It's to remember you in the entire
Because I'm watching it slip away
And in the annals of the Empire
Did it look this gray?
Before the fall
Before the fall
So rake your thumbnail across
The stretch of the patina
Revealing a Proserpina
In a low recline
In a steep decline
What's the use of all of this?
It's to remember you in the entire
Because I'm watching it slip away
And in the annals of the Empire
Did it look this gray?
Does it look so gray?
Does it always look so gray?
Before the fall
Before the fall
Lyrics submitted by OhNo789
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"The song was sort of written in the fall, there was alot of rain, and a record year for rainfall being kind of a metaphor for one's disposition over the course of a year. And the song is basically about the crumbling of a relationship, um, you know, by way of, the, sort of comparing to the fall of the Roman Empire."
In Colin's own words he was comparing the crumbling of civilizations to the crumbling of relationships.
youtube.com/watch
@danroduw06 just checked your link, listened to Colin, and realized that he probably sings in the chorus 'great', not 'gray'. this makes a bit of sense: 'did it look so great before the fall.' as he said it's a comparison of a fading relationship to a fall of an empire. so both of them looked great before the fall. and I can't figure out why they would be 'gray'.