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.
He was born a little baby on the Appalachian Trail
At six months old he'd done three months in jail
Here at the bank in his diapers and his little bare baby feet
All he said was "Folks, my name is Outlaw Pete."
I'm Outlaw Pete!
I'm Outlaw Pete!
Can you hear me?
At twenty-five a mustang pony he did steal
And they rode around and 'round on heaven's wheel
Father Jesus, I'm an outlaw killer and a thief
And I slowed down on Lee and I saw my grief
I'm Outlaw Pete!
I'm Outlaw Pete!
Can you hear me?
They cut his trail of tears across the countryside
And where he went, when he wept and died
One night he woke from a vision of his own death
Saddled his pony and rode her deep into the West
Married a Navajo girl and settled down on the res
And as the smooth 'fairy' he held that beautiful daughter to his chest
I'm Outlaw Pete!
I'm Outlaw Pete!
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Out of the East on an Irish stallion came Bounty Hunter Dan
His heart quickened and burned by the need to get his man
He found Pete peacefully fishing by the river, pulled his gun and got the ???
He said, "Pete, you think you've changed, but you have not."
He cocked his pistol, pulled the trigger and shot him 'let it start'
He drew a knife from his boot and pierced him through the heart
Dan smiled as he laid in his own blood dying in the sun
And whispered in Pete's ear, "We cannot undue these things we've done."
You're Outlaw Pete!
You're Outlaw Pete!
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
For forty days and nights Pete rode and did not stop
Till he sat high upon an icy mountain top
He watched the hawk on a desert ??? slip and slide
Moved to the edge and dug his spurs deep into his bony side
Some say Pete and his pony vanished over the edge
Some say they remain frozen high upon that icy ledge
The young Navajo girl washes in the river, skin so fair
And braids a piece of Pete's buckskin chaps into her hair
Outlaw Pete!
Outlaw Pete!
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
At six months old he'd done three months in jail
Here at the bank in his diapers and his little bare baby feet
All he said was "Folks, my name is Outlaw Pete."
I'm Outlaw Pete!
I'm Outlaw Pete!
Can you hear me?
At twenty-five a mustang pony he did steal
And they rode around and 'round on heaven's wheel
Father Jesus, I'm an outlaw killer and a thief
And I slowed down on Lee and I saw my grief
I'm Outlaw Pete!
I'm Outlaw Pete!
Can you hear me?
They cut his trail of tears across the countryside
And where he went, when he wept and died
One night he woke from a vision of his own death
Saddled his pony and rode her deep into the West
Married a Navajo girl and settled down on the res
And as the smooth 'fairy' he held that beautiful daughter to his chest
I'm Outlaw Pete!
I'm Outlaw Pete!
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Out of the East on an Irish stallion came Bounty Hunter Dan
His heart quickened and burned by the need to get his man
He found Pete peacefully fishing by the river, pulled his gun and got the ???
He said, "Pete, you think you've changed, but you have not."
He cocked his pistol, pulled the trigger and shot him 'let it start'
He drew a knife from his boot and pierced him through the heart
Dan smiled as he laid in his own blood dying in the sun
And whispered in Pete's ear, "We cannot undue these things we've done."
You're Outlaw Pete!
You're Outlaw Pete!
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
For forty days and nights Pete rode and did not stop
Till he sat high upon an icy mountain top
He watched the hawk on a desert ??? slip and slide
Moved to the edge and dug his spurs deep into his bony side
Some say Pete and his pony vanished over the edge
Some say they remain frozen high upon that icy ledge
The young Navajo girl washes in the river, skin so fair
And braids a piece of Pete's buckskin chaps into her hair
Outlaw Pete!
Outlaw Pete!
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
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**he robbed a bank... Got that lyric wrong.
I love Springsteen's epic story characters. They're like hard rock updates on old Dylan folk tunes.