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 was just a card, caught up in the stars,
Looking down to Mars.
You know, you know
I know, I know something
About you that you don't want me to know.
Never found a solid hand till I found that man,
Till I found that man of mine.
You were looking at me, thinking,
"Who am I?"
Never knew the sky was white till I took that flight,
Till I took that flight to him,
Tonight.
I was just a card, caught up in the stars,
Looking down to Mars.
You know, you know
He knows, he knows something
About me that I don't want him to know.
Could've sworn I had that man when he took my hand,
When he took my hand down near you.
You were looking at me, thinking,
"Who is she?"
Didn't even see the night till I said goodbye,
Till I said goodbye to him,
Tonight.
Looking down to Mars.
You know, you know
I know, I know something
About you that you don't want me to know.
Never found a solid hand till I found that man,
Till I found that man of mine.
You were looking at me, thinking,
"Who am I?"
Never knew the sky was white till I took that flight,
Till I took that flight to him,
Tonight.
I was just a card, caught up in the stars,
Looking down to Mars.
You know, you know
He knows, he knows something
About me that I don't want him to know.
Could've sworn I had that man when he took my hand,
When he took my hand down near you.
You were looking at me, thinking,
"Who is she?"
Didn't even see the night till I said goodbye,
Till I said goodbye to him,
Tonight.
Lyrics submitted by waywardgirl, edited by siliconyoda
I Was Just a Card Lyrics as written by Laura Beatrice Marling
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
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The cards could be tarot or something like that (aren't those covered in symbols like planets and stars?), so it's like until you get to know someone, to them you are just a card in their hand, one they might play or discard. And tarot is fortune telling, so you don't know how it's gonna turn out. But he's got another "card" in his hand too, another woman he might play and get to know instead, and she's thinking about you (Laura) "Who is she?" And of course, this guy is a card in the hand of both Laura AND the otehr girl. it's about how we all circle each other.