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.
I'm drowning in this black
Stream of sunken dreams,
Under the water I'm breathing in.
I'm breathing
The phantoms,
The nightmares.
And the firelights
Upon the waters burning,
On the isle of time where golden
Torches burning bright.
Touch to realize now
All tides of dark are turning.
Trust in the night now,
Inside the fires burning bright.
I'm floating upon this black
Stream of broken dreams,
Upon the water I'm bleeding.
I'm bleeding
The phantoms,
The nightmares.
And the firelights
Upon the waters burning,
On the isle of time where golden
Torches burning bright.
Touch to realize now
All tides of dark are turning.
Trust in the night now,
Inside the fires burning bright.
Pull me under,
Under these black waves.
Fill my lungs with your fire.
Their poison ropes cut into my hands!
Drown me down to your abyss,
Blind my eyes with your blades.
I drag you with me into these flames
And all that remains are ashes
Of phantoms, of fears.
And the firelights
Upon the waters burning,
On the isle of time where golden
Torches burning bright.
Touch to realize now
All tides of dark are turning.
Trust in the night now,
Inside the fires burning bright.
Stream of sunken dreams,
Under the water I'm breathing in.
I'm breathing
The phantoms,
The nightmares.
And the firelights
Upon the waters burning,
On the isle of time where golden
Torches burning bright.
Touch to realize now
All tides of dark are turning.
Trust in the night now,
Inside the fires burning bright.
I'm floating upon this black
Stream of broken dreams,
Upon the water I'm bleeding.
I'm bleeding
The phantoms,
The nightmares.
And the firelights
Upon the waters burning,
On the isle of time where golden
Torches burning bright.
Touch to realize now
All tides of dark are turning.
Trust in the night now,
Inside the fires burning bright.
Pull me under,
Under these black waves.
Fill my lungs with your fire.
Their poison ropes cut into my hands!
Drown me down to your abyss,
Blind my eyes with your blades.
I drag you with me into these flames
And all that remains are ashes
Of phantoms, of fears.
And the firelights
Upon the waters burning,
On the isle of time where golden
Torches burning bright.
Touch to realize now
All tides of dark are turning.
Trust in the night now,
Inside the fires burning bright.
Lyrics submitted by EternalTearsOfSorrow
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I think this song is about someone losing their ultimate love & soulmate and not being able to pick up all the shattered pieces left in their wake.