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.
When I heard the news
I nearly lost my breath
My heart stopped
And I held my chest
How could it be true, how could it be true?
I bought ten copies of the paper
Tried to buy them all
But they wouldn't let me
How could it be true, how could it be true?
Cut out the clip
And wallpapered my wall
I took it to work
To make copies so I could paper the whole house
How could it be true, how could it be true?
I scanned it too
So I could show it to my out-of-town friends
I wrote a letter to the editor
To give praise and a mention
To the names they forgot
And the answers they didn't question
And those answers they didn't question
So what's one to do
With all this fame and glory
Hire a PR firm
To tell the rest of the story
How could it be true, how could it be true?
Write it down quick
So I can make the four o'clock news
I know it's only local
But if it's what they choose
We'll celebrate over dinner,
Maybe dancing too
How could it be true, how could it be true?
Who cut the cake?
Without any warning
Who cut the cake?
With my special knife
Into tiny little pieces for every fella's wife
I nearly lost my breath
My heart stopped
And I held my chest
How could it be true, how could it be true?
I bought ten copies of the paper
Tried to buy them all
But they wouldn't let me
How could it be true, how could it be true?
Cut out the clip
And wallpapered my wall
I took it to work
To make copies so I could paper the whole house
How could it be true, how could it be true?
I scanned it too
So I could show it to my out-of-town friends
I wrote a letter to the editor
To give praise and a mention
To the names they forgot
And the answers they didn't question
And those answers they didn't question
So what's one to do
With all this fame and glory
Hire a PR firm
To tell the rest of the story
How could it be true, how could it be true?
Write it down quick
So I can make the four o'clock news
I know it's only local
But if it's what they choose
We'll celebrate over dinner,
Maybe dancing too
How could it be true, how could it be true?
Who cut the cake?
Without any warning
Who cut the cake?
With my special knife
Into tiny little pieces for every fella's wife
Lyrics submitted by MeAndOnlyMe
Cut The Cake Lyrics as written by Matthew Friedberger Eleanor Friedberger
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I find this song quite ambiguous. As the song starts, it sounds like she's heard something awful. But by the end, she's talking about celebrating and dancing.
My first reaction was that she has read in the paper that someone she loved has married to someone else ("My heart stopped" and "Who cut the cake / Without any warning?") But that doesn't fit with the rest of the song, which is either about a major world event, or a celebration.
I'm still not sure what it's about...