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.
See the man who stands upon the hill
He dreams of all the battles won
But fate had left its scars upon his face
With all the damage they had done
And so tired with age, he turns the page
Let the flesh submit itself to gravity
Let our bodies lay, mark our hearts with shame
Let our blood in vain, you find God in pain
Now, if your convictions were a passing phase
May your ashes feed the river in the morning rays
And as the vermin crawls, we lay in the foundations of decay
He was there the day the towers fell
And so he wandered down the road
And we would all build towers of our own
Only to watch the roots corrode
But it's much too late, you're in the race
So we'll press and press 'til you can't take it anymore
Let our bodies lay, mark our hearts with shame
Let our blood in vain, you find God in pain
And if, by his own hand, his spirit flies
Take his body as a relic to be canonized
Now, and so he gets to die a saint
But she will always be a whore
(You look stressed out)
Against faith (cage all the animals)
Against all odds ('cause the message must be pure)
Against change (you can wander through the ruins)
We are free (but the poison is the cure)
You must fix your heart
And you must build an altar where it swells
When the storm, it gains and the sky, it rains
Let it flood, let it flood, let it wash away
And as you stumble through your last crusade
Will you welcome your extinction in the morning rays?
And as the swarm it calls, we lay in the foundations
Yes, it comforts me much more
Yes, it comforts me much more
To lay in the foundations of decay
Get up, coward
He dreams of all the battles won
But fate had left its scars upon his face
With all the damage they had done
And so tired with age, he turns the page
Let the flesh submit itself to gravity
Let our bodies lay, mark our hearts with shame
Let our blood in vain, you find God in pain
Now, if your convictions were a passing phase
May your ashes feed the river in the morning rays
And as the vermin crawls, we lay in the foundations of decay
He was there the day the towers fell
And so he wandered down the road
And we would all build towers of our own
Only to watch the roots corrode
But it's much too late, you're in the race
So we'll press and press 'til you can't take it anymore
Let our bodies lay, mark our hearts with shame
Let our blood in vain, you find God in pain
And if, by his own hand, his spirit flies
Take his body as a relic to be canonized
Now, and so he gets to die a saint
But she will always be a whore
(You look stressed out)
Against faith (cage all the animals)
Against all odds ('cause the message must be pure)
Against change (you can wander through the ruins)
We are free (but the poison is the cure)
You must fix your heart
And you must build an altar where it swells
When the storm, it gains and the sky, it rains
Let it flood, let it flood, let it wash away
And as you stumble through your last crusade
Will you welcome your extinction in the morning rays?
And as the swarm it calls, we lay in the foundations
Yes, it comforts me much more
Yes, it comforts me much more
To lay in the foundations of decay
Get up, coward
Lyrics submitted by EternalTearsOfSorrow
The Foundations of Decay Lyrics as written by Ray Toro Gerard Way
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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Sonically, it draws from a similar dark rock vibe as the band’s 2004 classic hit song 'Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge'. Theme wise, I think this is about the hopelessness & derailment of human psyche in the wake of all that continues to go on with the world as of late. Furthermore it encapsulates the zeitgeist, most heavily downtrodden in spirit & bereft of faith.