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.
There's something inside this
Confusion we face
We marvel in silence
As time ticks away
Where's the ledge?
I can't touch it
But I feel it's so close
Where's the ledge?
I can't touch it
But I feel it's close
Sit lonely inside these
Delusions we face
Where's the ledge?
I can't touch it
But I feel it's so close
Where's the ledge?
I can't touch it
But I feel it's close
No one alive has taken me here
Nothing I've tried will replace your caress
If ever I choose to break in again
Promise me now you'll follow me in, into
A moment of conscience
Then shock to the head
Where's the ledge?
I can't touch it
But I feel it is so close
Where's the ledge?
I can't touch it
But I feel it's close
We marvel in silence
Let time tick away
Where's the ledge?
I can't touch it
But I feel it's so close
Where's the ledge?
I can't touch it
But I feel it's close
No one alive has taken me here
Nothing I tried replaced your caress
Whenever I choose to break in again
Promise me now you will follow me in
'Cause nobody else cuts me the same
You've pulled me into a permanent trance
If ever you choose to break in again
I promise you now, I'll follow you in
Promise you now, I'll follow in
Confusion we face
We marvel in silence
As time ticks away
Where's the ledge?
I can't touch it
But I feel it's so close
Where's the ledge?
I can't touch it
But I feel it's close
Sit lonely inside these
Delusions we face
Where's the ledge?
I can't touch it
But I feel it's so close
Where's the ledge?
I can't touch it
But I feel it's close
No one alive has taken me here
Nothing I've tried will replace your caress
If ever I choose to break in again
Promise me now you'll follow me in, into
A moment of conscience
Then shock to the head
Where's the ledge?
I can't touch it
But I feel it is so close
Where's the ledge?
I can't touch it
But I feel it's close
We marvel in silence
Let time tick away
Where's the ledge?
I can't touch it
But I feel it's so close
Where's the ledge?
I can't touch it
But I feel it's close
No one alive has taken me here
Nothing I tried replaced your caress
Whenever I choose to break in again
Promise me now you will follow me in
'Cause nobody else cuts me the same
You've pulled me into a permanent trance
If ever you choose to break in again
I promise you now, I'll follow you in
Promise you now, I'll follow in
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I think this could be in reference to a sort of dystopian society if you will, a fictional society that imposes a harmful, oppressive, and miserable existence upon its members. It's the opposite of a utopian society, which is a fictional ideal society that couldn't be more perfect. The song is about the confounds of this world & the way it both imprisons and tricks its inhabitants in so many twisted ways.