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.
Fun times in Babylon
That's what I'm counting on
Before the dam goes up at the foot of the sea
Before the new wing of the prison ribbon ceremony
Before the star of the morning comes looking for me
I would like to abuse my lungs
Smoke everything inside with every girl I've ever loved
Ride around the wreckage on a horse knee-deep in mud
Look out Hollywood, here I come
Fun times in Babylon
Momma they've just begun
Before they put me to work in a government camp
Before they do my face up like a corpse and say "get up and dance"
Before the beast comes looking for last year's rent
I would like to abuse my lungs
Smoked everything inside with every girl I've ever loved
Ride around my wreckage on a horse knee-deep in mud
Look out Hollywood, here I come
Look out Hollywood, here I come
Look out Hollywood, here I come
That's what I'm counting on
Before the dam goes up at the foot of the sea
Before the new wing of the prison ribbon ceremony
Before the star of the morning comes looking for me
I would like to abuse my lungs
Smoke everything inside with every girl I've ever loved
Ride around the wreckage on a horse knee-deep in mud
Look out Hollywood, here I come
Fun times in Babylon
Momma they've just begun
Before they put me to work in a government camp
Before they do my face up like a corpse and say "get up and dance"
Before the beast comes looking for last year's rent
I would like to abuse my lungs
Smoked everything inside with every girl I've ever loved
Ride around my wreckage on a horse knee-deep in mud
Look out Hollywood, here I come
Look out Hollywood, here I come
Look out Hollywood, here I come
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I'm pretty sure he's saying "smoke everything in sight, with every girl I've ever loved"
Just sayin
Yes, and it's "knee-deep in blood," not mud.
Yeah, it's "everything in sight" and "knee-deep in blood". That's how they're written in the lyric sheet. He says them a little more clearly in live performances. I thought it was "inside" and "knee-deep in blood" at first, too.