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.
Where were you when I was burned and broken
While the days slipped by from my window watching
And where were you when I was hurt and I was helpless
'Cause the things you say and the things you do surround me
While you were hanging yourself on someone else's words
Dying to believe in what you heard
I was staring straight into the shining sun
Lost in thought and lost in time
While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted
Outside the rain fell dark and slow
While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime
I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the moment had arrived
For killing the past and coming back to life
I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the waiting had begun
Headed straight into the shining sun
While the days slipped by from my window watching
And where were you when I was hurt and I was helpless
'Cause the things you say and the things you do surround me
While you were hanging yourself on someone else's words
Dying to believe in what you heard
I was staring straight into the shining sun
Lost in thought and lost in time
While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted
Outside the rain fell dark and slow
While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime
I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the moment had arrived
For killing the past and coming back to life
I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the waiting had begun
Headed straight into the shining sun
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Coming Back to Life Lyrics as written by David Jon Gilmour
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
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"Some and now none of you"
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To me, is about a depressed guy who was left by his girlfriend and finally commits suicide
"Where were you when I was burned and broken While the days slipped by from my window watching And where were you when I was hurt and I was helpless Because the things you say and the things you do surround me "
¿Where were you when I was dying alone while remembering the things you did and said?
"While you were hanging yourself on someone else's words Dying to believe in what you heard I was staring straight into the shining sun Lost in thought and lost in time"
While you were hanging around with another guy who is trying to seduce you with his words. I was lost thinking and looking to the light at the end of the tunnel*
"While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted Outside the rain fell dark and slow While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime I took a heavenly ride through our silence"
While our time was ending, and the other guy's time was about to start, I was depressed, thinking about the distance that now separate us, and irresistibly wanting to commit suicide.
I knew the moment had arrived For killing the past and coming back to life I took a heavenly ride through our silence I knew the waiting had begun And headed straight into the shining sun
I knew the moment had arrived, the moment to bury our history and start over again, I thought about our actual (non existing) relation, and realized that I just had to wait. I had commited suicide, and was already dying and heading to the light at the end of the tunnel.
*Many songwriters refer to the sun as the death or heaven, like the light at the end of the tunnel.