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.
West Valley, Mormon family
with seven hungry mouths to feed,
and that's how she learned to raise my sister and me,
and voted Nixon in the seventies
and it would all work out, it would all work out
My mother was the youngest child -
no college education, wasn't ever her style
but she knew just how to make a quarterback smile,
and it would all work out
It'll all work out
My father loved us right, stayed up at night
tryin' to keep the checkbook tighter
than a duck's ass going down a waterslide
Oh, I know he tried,
became a victim of the mortgage spikes,
collections calling every night since 1999
In 10 more years, you'd think the interest rates'd decline
It'll all work out, it'll all work out, it'll all work out
He'd say, "go to college, get your knowledge straightened out,"
with an air of desperation in the way it sounded
like he'd bet on it, and now it seemed his odds were down
Well, thank you, Dad, I love you, and I hope you're proud
and I'm sorry that I didn't take the road you laid down
but it'll all work out, it'll all work out, it'll all work out
Is that your letter in the middle of the pile?
I must have been out of town for quite a little while
The stitches in your arm must have healed by now
Fuck that plumber if your heat is still out
and don't be scared, I know you can still throw down
It'll all work out, it'll all work out
Now, I don't feel a speck of hate -
really, no, I'm trying to get my story straight -
when you called me from the car when you were on your way
with your friend from San Francisco that you told me was gay
and I guess he was a closet straight
Get it all out now
and it'll all work out
It'll all work out
it'll all, it'll all, it'll all, it'll all work out, work out now
with seven hungry mouths to feed,
and that's how she learned to raise my sister and me,
and voted Nixon in the seventies
and it would all work out, it would all work out
My mother was the youngest child -
no college education, wasn't ever her style
but she knew just how to make a quarterback smile,
and it would all work out
It'll all work out
My father loved us right, stayed up at night
tryin' to keep the checkbook tighter
than a duck's ass going down a waterslide
Oh, I know he tried,
became a victim of the mortgage spikes,
collections calling every night since 1999
In 10 more years, you'd think the interest rates'd decline
It'll all work out, it'll all work out, it'll all work out
He'd say, "go to college, get your knowledge straightened out,"
with an air of desperation in the way it sounded
like he'd bet on it, and now it seemed his odds were down
Well, thank you, Dad, I love you, and I hope you're proud
and I'm sorry that I didn't take the road you laid down
but it'll all work out, it'll all work out, it'll all work out
Is that your letter in the middle of the pile?
I must have been out of town for quite a little while
The stitches in your arm must have healed by now
Fuck that plumber if your heat is still out
and don't be scared, I know you can still throw down
It'll all work out, it'll all work out
Now, I don't feel a speck of hate -
really, no, I'm trying to get my story straight -
when you called me from the car when you were on your way
with your friend from San Francisco that you told me was gay
and I guess he was a closet straight
Get it all out now
and it'll all work out
It'll all work out
it'll all, it'll all, it'll all, it'll all work out, work out now
Lyrics submitted by prettybird
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I find this to be such a soothing song. The guitars really create this gentle and melodic backdrop for Blake's quiet stoicism, which is what the song feels like it's about. The world Blake paints isn't one where people consistently lose, they just seem to never win.
My favorite aspect of this song, though, has to be its construction as a narrative. You know after the first verse that it's sort of a genesis song, starting with Blake's mother's disappointment or failing, a torch of inherited struggle that is passed on from verse to verse, person to person, until it ends with the personal disappointment of implied adultry (or at least an attempt on the guy's part, and at the least a lie on the girlfriend's part [Danielle?].)
I think I read/saw somewhere that either intentionally or in retrospect, Blake realized that the phrase "it'll all work out" doesn't actually mean anything. It's a phrase as hollow as "it is what it is." It's what you say when you there isn't a right thing to say. It's one of those prayers of quiet desperation.
Lovely song, lovely performer.
This was released in the same time frame as "Hey Lover" which is his song for Danielle, so I don't think that last bit's about her, but I love how you phrased this as a "torch of inherited struggle"... great insight