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.
Welcome to the apocalypse, the end of days
Rulers of the wasteland, rejoice in the flames
Futures tumble, legacies crumble
Thousands of years and what have we learned?
They heard the warnings, ignored the signs
Wheels of injustice kept on turning
Unaccountable for their crimes
On the streets anger burning
Black clouds rumble, dark days ahead
As the chorus chants for a holy war
It's the end of an era, a new dawn will rise
Words turned to war, brother fighting brother
Another false truce, as the people die
The fate of the nation forever changed
Behold, the fiery end is nigh
Behind closed doors, corruption wins
The power echelon prepares their task
One step forward, two stabs in the back
Revolution is a mere change of masks
Black clouds rumble, dark days ahead
As the chorus chants for a holy war
It's the end of an era, a new dawn will rise
We rise again from the stench and the pain
We pass through fire, darkness erase the stain
Black clouds rumble, dark days ahead
As the chorus chants for a holy war
It's the end of an era, a new dawn will rise
It's the end of an era, a new dawn
As the sun sets on the empire
Is there a future to be found?
Hopes and dreams now ashes on the ground
Rulers of the wasteland, rejoice in the flames
Futures tumble, legacies crumble
Thousands of years and what have we learned?
They heard the warnings, ignored the signs
Wheels of injustice kept on turning
Unaccountable for their crimes
On the streets anger burning
Black clouds rumble, dark days ahead
As the chorus chants for a holy war
It's the end of an era, a new dawn will rise
Words turned to war, brother fighting brother
Another false truce, as the people die
The fate of the nation forever changed
Behold, the fiery end is nigh
Behind closed doors, corruption wins
The power echelon prepares their task
One step forward, two stabs in the back
Revolution is a mere change of masks
Black clouds rumble, dark days ahead
As the chorus chants for a holy war
It's the end of an era, a new dawn will rise
We rise again from the stench and the pain
We pass through fire, darkness erase the stain
Black clouds rumble, dark days ahead
As the chorus chants for a holy war
It's the end of an era, a new dawn will rise
It's the end of an era, a new dawn
As the sun sets on the empire
Is there a future to be found?
Hopes and dreams now ashes on the ground
Lyrics submitted by EternalTearsOfSorrow
Sunset over the Empire Lyrics as written by Michael Amott Daniel Erlandsson
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This to me is about the throes & hardships of war and the all out struggle to keep hope afloat in the midst of it all.