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.
Remains of winter's snow
A million trickles towards the shore
As fluid as eternal time
Deeds good and evil lost within
Yet from a chance encounter
A meaning could be found
A handprint etched into a soul
A keepsake to guide us forth
Towards eternity
How do we reign over our fate?
The paths of those passing by
Entwining with a burning resolution
Life, relentless, unending
Until it ceases
A million trickles towards the shore
As fluid as eternal time
Deeds good and evil lost within
Yet from a chance encounter
A meaning could be found
A handprint etched into a soul
A keepsake to guide us forth
Towards eternity
How do we reign over our fate?
The paths of those passing by
Entwining with a burning resolution
Life, relentless, unending
Until it ceases
Lyrics submitted by EternalTearsOfSorrow
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I think this is about realizing that despite the ill path that fate has seemingly laid at our feet, it is still possible to carve out a different one if one just believes.