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.
Dreaming
I was only dreaming
Of another place and time
Where my family's from.
Singing
I can hear them singing.
When the rain had washed away
All these scattered dreams
Dying
Everyone's reminding
Hearts are washed in misery
Drenched in gasoline
Laughter
There is no more laughter
Songs of yesterday
Now live in the underground
Life before the lobotomy
Christian sang the eulogy
Sign my love a lost memory
From the end of the century
Well, it's enough to make you sick
To cast a stone and throw a brick
When the sky is falling down
It burned your dreams into the ground
Christian's lesson is what he's been sold
We are normal and self-controlled
Remember to learn to forget
Whiskey shots and cheap cigarettes
Well I'm not stoned
I'm just fucked up
I got so high I can't stand up
I'm not cursed 'cause I've been blessed
I'm not in love 'cause I'm a mess
Like refugees
We're lost like refugees
Like refugees
We're lost like refugees
The brutality of reality
Is the freedom that keeps me from
Dreaming
I was only dreaming
Of another place and time
Where my family's from.
Singing
I can hear them singing.
When the rain had washed away
All these scattered dreams
Dying
Everyone's reminding
Hearts are washed in misery
Drenched in gasoline
Laughter
There is no more laughter
Songs of yesterday
Now live in the underground
I was only dreaming
Of another place and time
Where my family's from.
Singing
I can hear them singing.
When the rain had washed away
All these scattered dreams
Dying
Everyone's reminding
Hearts are washed in misery
Drenched in gasoline
Laughter
There is no more laughter
Songs of yesterday
Now live in the underground
Life before the lobotomy
Christian sang the eulogy
Sign my love a lost memory
From the end of the century
Well, it's enough to make you sick
To cast a stone and throw a brick
When the sky is falling down
It burned your dreams into the ground
Christian's lesson is what he's been sold
We are normal and self-controlled
Remember to learn to forget
Whiskey shots and cheap cigarettes
Well I'm not stoned
I'm just fucked up
I got so high I can't stand up
I'm not cursed 'cause I've been blessed
I'm not in love 'cause I'm a mess
Like refugees
We're lost like refugees
Like refugees
We're lost like refugees
The brutality of reality
Is the freedom that keeps me from
Dreaming
I was only dreaming
Of another place and time
Where my family's from.
Singing
I can hear them singing.
When the rain had washed away
All these scattered dreams
Dying
Everyone's reminding
Hearts are washed in misery
Drenched in gasoline
Laughter
There is no more laughter
Songs of yesterday
Now live in the underground
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Green Day playing with time signatures! What?!
Ha ha, I love it. My favorite off the new album so far. Incredible energy bookended by the emotional "dreaming, singing, dying, laughter" sections. Two great characters are being developed here: Gloria and Christian (patriotism and faith personified, respectively). Gloria got a lobotomy after 9/11. Christian tried to offer comfort and reasurrance because of the ordeal.
What sticks out to me is the "to cast a stone and throw a brick" line, which connects a gospel reading to the Dookie song "She" in a very interesting way. The whole Jesus and Mary Magdalene thing, yes.
"I got so high, I can't stand up." is also a stand out. There is a lot of irony in this song, and it almost demands an explanation.
I'm probably wrong..<br /> I always think of religion when I listen to this song..<br /> <br /> It just seems like whoever's point of view it's from...they've stopped believing in something.<br /> "Dreaming<br /> I was only dreaming<br /> Of another place and time<br /> Where my family's from<br /> <br /> Singing<br /> I can hear them singing<br /> When the rain had washed away<br /> All these scattered dreams"<br /> and the the brutality of reality...it's like, believing something for a long time, and then you realize it's was all wrong.<br /> <br /> Now, lobotomy..means to literally cut connections in the brain, and as a result, the "patients must sacrifice some of the virtue, of the driving force, creative spirit or soul."<br /> A lobotomy also cuts off the part of the brain that tells right from wrong..<br /> So, losing what you believe in? Religion?<br /> I dunno..<br /> <br /> AWESOME SONG, THOUGH!
Oops..I didn't mean to make that a reply.<br /> <br /> I'm kinda new to this.
"Well I'm not stoned, Im just fucked up"<br /> "I got so high, I can't stand up"<br /> Sounds a bit like "Basketcase"<br /> Maybe a bit more personal than at first glance. Perhaps Billie Joe is reminiscing on his own past here
your comment,davidecoyote really explained alot more to me about this awesome song. I never realized that about the names of Christian and Gloria! Faith and Patriotism. Genious.
ive always heard <br /> "well im not stoned <br /> im just fucked up <br /> well that a lie <br /> i cant stand up"<br /> <br /> which i understand is not correct but i somehow prefer it...because hes admitting to a lie <br /> and then in 21 guns goes on to talk about a liar...or whatever.