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.
Someone plays a solo on a saxophone
Oh, you've never seen somebody throw their head so slow
And I see her cringe your lips and drop an ear that way
Scratch a dog behind its ear and it might do the same
Hey lover, hey lover
Hey lover, hey lover
Blue and white racing stripe pick-up truck
And when did I decide to grow this beard and gut?
Well, I may be white but I don't like my people much
But I want to raise with you and watch our younglings hatch,
Fucking make the first letters of their first names match
Hey lover, hey lover
Hey lover, hey lover
Well I'm back into the boring life that I once led
Stuffing white spread asshole on a sofa bed
Sometimes I hate myself for trying to be so bold
But nothing ever seems to get this story told
Hey lover, hey lover
Hey lover, hey lover
I never tell her when she plays a song I never heard
Because I always learn the music and forget the words
But I want to ride with her and I wish I sung that well
Just copy, paste, google search, and send it to myself
Hey lover, hey lover
Hey lover, hey lover
Oh, you've never seen somebody throw their head so slow
And I see her cringe your lips and drop an ear that way
Scratch a dog behind its ear and it might do the same
Hey lover, hey lover
Hey lover, hey lover
Blue and white racing stripe pick-up truck
And when did I decide to grow this beard and gut?
Well, I may be white but I don't like my people much
But I want to raise with you and watch our younglings hatch,
Fucking make the first letters of their first names match
Hey lover, hey lover
Hey lover, hey lover
Well I'm back into the boring life that I once led
Stuffing white spread asshole on a sofa bed
Sometimes I hate myself for trying to be so bold
But nothing ever seems to get this story told
Hey lover, hey lover
Hey lover, hey lover
I never tell her when she plays a song I never heard
Because I always learn the music and forget the words
But I want to ride with her and I wish I sung that well
Just copy, paste, google search, and send it to myself
Hey lover, hey lover
Hey lover, hey lover
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Dawes just covers this song, it's originally by Blake Mills