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.
"Someway, baby, it's part of me, apart from me"
You're laying waste to Halloween
You fucked it friend, it's on its head, it struck the street
You're in Milwaukee, off your feet
And at once, I knew I was not magnificent
Strayed above the highway aisle
Jagged vacance, thick with ice
But I could see for miles, miles, miles
3rd and Lake, it burnt away, the hallway
Was where we learned to celebrate
Automatic bought the years you'd talk for me
That night you played me Lip Parade
Not the needle, nor the thread, the lost decree
Saying nothing, that's enough for me
And at once, I knew I was not magnificent
Hulled far from the highway aisle
Jagged vacance, thick with ice
But I could see for miles, miles, miles
Christmas night, it clutched the light, the hallow bright
Above my brother, I and tangled spines
We smoked the screen to make it what it was to be
Now to know it in my memory
And at once, I knew I was not magnificent
High above the highway aisle
Jagged vacance, thick with ice
But I could see for miles, miles, miles
You're laying waste to Halloween
You fucked it friend, it's on its head, it struck the street
You're in Milwaukee, off your feet
And at once, I knew I was not magnificent
Strayed above the highway aisle
Jagged vacance, thick with ice
But I could see for miles, miles, miles
3rd and Lake, it burnt away, the hallway
Was where we learned to celebrate
Automatic bought the years you'd talk for me
That night you played me Lip Parade
Not the needle, nor the thread, the lost decree
Saying nothing, that's enough for me
And at once, I knew I was not magnificent
Hulled far from the highway aisle
Jagged vacance, thick with ice
But I could see for miles, miles, miles
Christmas night, it clutched the light, the hallow bright
Above my brother, I and tangled spines
We smoked the screen to make it what it was to be
Now to know it in my memory
And at once, I knew I was not magnificent
High above the highway aisle
Jagged vacance, thick with ice
But I could see for miles, miles, miles
Lyrics submitted by thuglifeforevs, edited by musemadness, 1name
Holocene Lyrics as written by Justin Deyarmond Edison Vernon
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
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Someone asked about "Not the needle, nor the thread, lost decree Saying nothing, that's enough for me" ...
In context, these lines follow what seems to refer to someone who talks too much, or tries to speak for him automatically in a way he doesn't like: "Automatic bought the years you'd talk for me/That Night you played me 'Lip Parade'."
Don't know what "Lip Parade" is, but maybe it's someone talking on and on? Maybe someone who purports to know a lot about music (a lot of things related to music over the years, like "Hit Parade," use the word "parade" -- but "parade" also sounds like something almost endless).
So maybe those lines are about conversation, specifically a conversation in the (now-burned) house where (he said elsewhere) he learned to party (& may have recorded a record).
The needle is inserted (like a conversational topic, or interruption) but the thread is followed (in a conversation) ... and he doesn't want either of these. It's "not a needle, nor a thread." Or maybe it's something that just can't be repaired, like a break-up that needed to happen. He is (or has) neither thread nor needle - he doesn't have what it takes to fix the relationship.
"The lost decree" is maybe a lost promise, or an abandoned plan (like "I will do 'x' with my life" -- and then you don't. Or like "we'll always be together" - not).
"Saying nothing, that's enough for me" says it all: This guy really doesn't want to talk. Fits with his escape from warm & friendly NC to an introverted winter spent alone in a cabin in the freezing woods of Wisconsin. (OK, I'm from Raleigh! Who'd wanna leave the sunshine to stay in a freezing cabin? But I sure am GLAD he did, b/c that's where he made his greatest music!!)
I can imagine him having a memory of being in that now-burned building, probably drinking or smoking pot with friends, making and talking about music, and he's sorta trapped in the hallway by perhaps a long-time girlfriend, or some know-it-all he knew for awhile, who is talking on and on ... and he wants not only to speak for himself, but he'd really rather be in silence.
Hope my two cents make sense!
That no-it-all just knows him too well. And that is scary. Then the defenses go up (much like the walls) and the blame comes....
Ugh. KNOW. (See, I don't know everything:)
this song is about getting high and ruminating on life... the joint "burnt away" in the hallway- not the house. "Lip parade" might be kissing, stoned babbling, echolalia or a band (according to another post:), saying nothing means they have a shared understanding... ALL MY OPINION... but 3rd & Lake is in MPLS!