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.
Long is the trail of the day
Into the lap of the evening dusk
Sweet is the hour of sleep
For I am weary of sorrow and pain
Into the tender night, I now lapse
Into the slumber, so sound and deep
Arching over the ravines of time
Bridge into the shrouded land
(For) For you left before me
(My) My pale morning star
(Now) Now you walk in undying light
(And I'm) I'm still chained in this rimed soil
When twilight reaves my senses
The heavenly ones will linger here
Right here by my feverish side
The ghosts of those I loved
Gone is the cruelest longing now
Undone, this grief of mine
(For) For you left before me
(My) My pale morning star
(Now) Now you walk in undying light
(And I'm) I'm still chained in this rimed soil
And still I can sense you
Still I can hear your voice
Still I quiver under your touch
Celestial shine in your hair
Empyreal crown upon your brow
Radiance blurs my deary eyes
Broken is the sphere of the body
As the spirit will ascend
Broken is the sphere of the body
As the spirit will ascend
Over the infinite boundaries
Over the gulches of death
Once you carried me
From the night into the sun
And now I follow your steps
Into the unseen land
Sore are these weary eyes
When I pass into the light
Blinding the eternal glow
After the long path in the dark
Wide awake amidst the dream
I stand by your side
I tremble before your gleam
My pale morning star
I stand by your side
My pale morning star
Into the lap of the evening dusk
Sweet is the hour of sleep
For I am weary of sorrow and pain
Into the tender night, I now lapse
Into the slumber, so sound and deep
Arching over the ravines of time
Bridge into the shrouded land
(For) For you left before me
(My) My pale morning star
(Now) Now you walk in undying light
(And I'm) I'm still chained in this rimed soil
When twilight reaves my senses
The heavenly ones will linger here
Right here by my feverish side
The ghosts of those I loved
Gone is the cruelest longing now
Undone, this grief of mine
(For) For you left before me
(My) My pale morning star
(Now) Now you walk in undying light
(And I'm) I'm still chained in this rimed soil
And still I can sense you
Still I can hear your voice
Still I quiver under your touch
Celestial shine in your hair
Empyreal crown upon your brow
Radiance blurs my deary eyes
Broken is the sphere of the body
As the spirit will ascend
Broken is the sphere of the body
As the spirit will ascend
Over the infinite boundaries
Over the gulches of death
Once you carried me
From the night into the sun
And now I follow your steps
Into the unseen land
Sore are these weary eyes
When I pass into the light
Blinding the eternal glow
After the long path in the dark
Wide awake amidst the dream
I stand by your side
I tremble before your gleam
My pale morning star
I stand by your side
My pale morning star
Lyrics submitted by EternalTearsOfSorrow
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I think this is about lost loves, who've passed on before you and searching for (or trying to cling to) life in the aftermath of such sorrow.