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.
Some resist the future, some refuse the past
Either way, it's messed up if we can't unplug the fact
That a world covered in cables was never wired to last
So don't act so surprised when the program starts to crash
(How do I) form a connection when we can't even shake hands?
You're like a phantom greeting me
We plot in the shadows, hang out in the gallows
Stuck in a loop for eternity
Do you know why the flowers never bloom?
Will you retry or let the pain resume?
I need a new leader, we need a new Luden
(A new Luden, new Luden, yeah)
So come outside, it's time to see the tide
It's out of sight, but never out of mind
I need a new leader, we need a new Luden
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but soon the sting will pass
But names can dig so many graves you won't know where to stand
And I don't feel secure no more unless I'm being followed
And the only way to hide myself is to give 'em a hell of a show
(How do I) form a connection when we can't even shake hands?
You're like the phantom greeting me
We plot in the shadows, hang out in the gallows
Stuck in a loop for eternity
Do you know why the flowers never bloom?
Will you retry or let the pain resume?
I need a new leader, we need a new Luden
(A new Luden, new Luden, yeah)
So come outside, it's time to see the tide
It's out of sight, but never out of mind
I need a new leader, we need a new Luden
A new Luden, new Luden, yeah
A new Luden, new Luden, yeah
A new Luden, new Luden, yeah
A new Luden, new Luden, yeah
Yeah
Alright, you call this a connection?
You call this a connection?
You call this a connection? (okay)
You call this a connection?
Oh, give me a break
Oh, give me a break
Oh, give me a break (okay)
Ugh, oh
Do you know why the flowers never bloom?
Will you retry or let the pain resume?
I need a new leader, we need a new Luden
(A new Luden, new Luden, yeah)
So come outside, it's time to see the tide
It's out of sight, but never out of mind
I need a new leader, we need a new Luden
A new Luden, new Luden, yeah
A new Luden, new Luden, yeah
A new Luden, new Luden, yeah
A new Luden, new Luden, yeah
Do you know why the flowers never bloom?
Will you retry or let the pain resume?
I need a new leader, we need a new Luden
Either way, it's messed up if we can't unplug the fact
That a world covered in cables was never wired to last
So don't act so surprised when the program starts to crash
(How do I) form a connection when we can't even shake hands?
You're like a phantom greeting me
We plot in the shadows, hang out in the gallows
Stuck in a loop for eternity
Do you know why the flowers never bloom?
Will you retry or let the pain resume?
I need a new leader, we need a new Luden
(A new Luden, new Luden, yeah)
So come outside, it's time to see the tide
It's out of sight, but never out of mind
I need a new leader, we need a new Luden
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but soon the sting will pass
But names can dig so many graves you won't know where to stand
And I don't feel secure no more unless I'm being followed
And the only way to hide myself is to give 'em a hell of a show
(How do I) form a connection when we can't even shake hands?
You're like the phantom greeting me
We plot in the shadows, hang out in the gallows
Stuck in a loop for eternity
Do you know why the flowers never bloom?
Will you retry or let the pain resume?
I need a new leader, we need a new Luden
(A new Luden, new Luden, yeah)
So come outside, it's time to see the tide
It's out of sight, but never out of mind
I need a new leader, we need a new Luden
A new Luden, new Luden, yeah
A new Luden, new Luden, yeah
A new Luden, new Luden, yeah
A new Luden, new Luden, yeah
Yeah
Alright, you call this a connection?
You call this a connection?
You call this a connection? (okay)
You call this a connection?
Oh, give me a break
Oh, give me a break
Oh, give me a break (okay)
Ugh, oh
Do you know why the flowers never bloom?
Will you retry or let the pain resume?
I need a new leader, we need a new Luden
(A new Luden, new Luden, yeah)
So come outside, it's time to see the tide
It's out of sight, but never out of mind
I need a new leader, we need a new Luden
A new Luden, new Luden, yeah
A new Luden, new Luden, yeah
A new Luden, new Luden, yeah
A new Luden, new Luden, yeah
Do you know why the flowers never bloom?
Will you retry or let the pain resume?
I need a new leader, we need a new Luden
Lyrics submitted by EternalTearsOfSorrow
Ludens Lyrics as written by Oliver Sykes Jordan Fish
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The creation of Bring Me The Horizon’s “Luden” was heavily influenced by Hideo Kojima. Kojima is without a shred of doubt one of the most relevant videogame designers of his generation. As such, you can say that Hideo’s main talent is his creativity. And likewise, the idea of a “luden” is based on, according to Oli Sykes, the philosophy that mankind’s “greatest asset and… biggest hope” is our creativity. Or another way of looking at it is that the pressing issues of today can ideally be resolved through the application of ingenuity. Thus in this song, when the band calls for “a new leader”, as in “a new Luden”, they are more or less calling for leadership that will approach pressing dilemmas via new approaches. And amongst the issues that they bring up is environmental degradation. But more pervasive is a stance against social-media based communications. And in that regard, Bring Me the Horizon seem to perceive this phenomenon as one that is discouraging meaningful interpersonal exchanges instead of vice versa. Moreover modern-technological advances are encouraging something like a surveillance state, where people are always under the scrutiny of others. So we can conclude that the primary purpose of “Luden”, in its most-basic form, is to express a sentiment along the lines of criticizing some ubiquitous computer-based advancements that are part of modern society. Part of this criticism may be based on such technologies negatively affecting the environment. But more to the point is the narrator’s disdain towards always being ‘connected’. And basically, the band seems to be searching for an individual prominent enough to alter this trend who also adopts such a disposition.