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.
Oi, Reg, meat and two veg?
He done him with a ten pound sledge
He done himself a favour *crash*
Forty year-old arse-wipe,
Mrs. Elizabeth Walker of Lambeth Walk
Had a husband who was jubblified
With only half a stalk
So she had a milk of magnesia
And curry powder sandwich,
Half a pound of uncut pork
Took an overdose of Omo,
This made the neighbours talk
Could have been watching Frankie Vaughan
On the telly and giving herself a scratch
This is what we find
This is what we find
This is what we find
A sense of humour is required
Amongst our bacon rind
Hello, Brian, wash and iron?
Try it on, it's only nylon
Single bachelor with little dog,
Tony Green of Turnham Green
Said, "Who's a clever boy, then, girl",
Yes you know whom I mean
'cause the mongrel laid a cable in the sandpit
Of the playground of the park
Where they had been
And with a bit of tissue,
He wiped its bum-hole clean
A bit of claggy on the waggy
This is what we find
This is what we find
This is what we find
I must have had a funny time
On the Golden Hind
O vanitas vanitatum
Which of us is happy in this life?
Which of us has our desire,
Or having it, is gratified?
Hello, Mrs. this boy looks familiar,
They used to call him Robin Hood
Now he's Robin fuck... shit... cunt...
Home improvement expert
Harold Hill of Harold Hill
Of do-it-yourself dexterity
And double-glazing skill
Came home to find another gentleman's kippers
In the grill
So sanded off his winkle
With his Black and Decker drill
This is what we find
This is what we find
This is what we find
The hope that springs eternal
Springs right up your behind
This is what we find
This is what we find
This is what we find
This is what we find
This is what we find
He done him with a ten pound sledge
He done himself a favour *crash*
Forty year-old arse-wipe,
Mrs. Elizabeth Walker of Lambeth Walk
Had a husband who was jubblified
With only half a stalk
So she had a milk of magnesia
And curry powder sandwich,
Half a pound of uncut pork
Took an overdose of Omo,
This made the neighbours talk
Could have been watching Frankie Vaughan
On the telly and giving herself a scratch
This is what we find
This is what we find
This is what we find
A sense of humour is required
Amongst our bacon rind
Hello, Brian, wash and iron?
Try it on, it's only nylon
Single bachelor with little dog,
Tony Green of Turnham Green
Said, "Who's a clever boy, then, girl",
Yes you know whom I mean
'cause the mongrel laid a cable in the sandpit
Of the playground of the park
Where they had been
And with a bit of tissue,
He wiped its bum-hole clean
A bit of claggy on the waggy
This is what we find
This is what we find
This is what we find
I must have had a funny time
On the Golden Hind
O vanitas vanitatum
Which of us is happy in this life?
Which of us has our desire,
Or having it, is gratified?
Hello, Mrs. this boy looks familiar,
They used to call him Robin Hood
Now he's Robin fuck... shit... cunt...
Home improvement expert
Harold Hill of Harold Hill
Of do-it-yourself dexterity
And double-glazing skill
Came home to find another gentleman's kippers
In the grill
So sanded off his winkle
With his Black and Decker drill
This is what we find
This is what we find
This is what we find
The hope that springs eternal
Springs right up your behind
This is what we find
This is what we find
This is what we find
This is what we find
This is what we find
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings, edited by futatorius
This Is What We Find Lyrics as written by Michael William Gallagher Ian Robins Dury
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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its amazing how far music can come.. 24 years after it released and its one of the most heartfelt songs ive heard
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He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
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Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Jubblified - wobbly. With only half a stalk - not well-endowed either. Omo - an old brand of detergent. Frankie Vaughan - a bland early-60s teen idol, sort of like Pat Boone. Giving herself a scratch - self-pleasuring. Laid a cable - shat. Claggy on the waggy - something sticky that's dried onto the dog's hindquarters. O Vanitas vanitatum - "O Vanity of Vanities!" from the Book of Ecclesiastes. Another gentleman's kippers in the grill - implying his wife is serving breakfast to another man. Winkle - as in Wee Willie Winkle.