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.
We crowd the earth
With gas and treason
A sacred gift
We shed with reason
Until our hopes blow up
We will never care
We will never care
Here's to being human
Gods of temptation
Feast till the downfall
Grow into the ending
Like tombstones in the sun
We pollute our souls
With lies against the bleeding
Progress is all we know
Cause in this race there is no ceiling
So you better run as fast as you can
Cause the time keeps ticking
No matter where you at
Smother the facts
When our lives blow up
We ain't coming back
Here's to being human
Gods of temptation
Feast till the downfall
Grow into the ending
Like tombstones in the sun
Under the banner of salvation
We feast the blood of limping nations
While we strive for more
Will we face the truth
Of our own demise
Will we realize
That we only aim at power and control
While we're digging our own fucking hole
We're just digging our own fucking hole
Some say I told you so
Some question all we do
But In the end we all
Don't want to come up short
Here's to being human
Gods of temptation
Feast till the downfall
Grow into the ending
Like tombstones in the sun
With gas and treason
A sacred gift
We shed with reason
Until our hopes blow up
We will never care
We will never care
Here's to being human
Gods of temptation
Feast till the downfall
Grow into the ending
Like tombstones in the sun
We pollute our souls
With lies against the bleeding
Progress is all we know
Cause in this race there is no ceiling
So you better run as fast as you can
Cause the time keeps ticking
No matter where you at
Smother the facts
When our lives blow up
We ain't coming back
Here's to being human
Gods of temptation
Feast till the downfall
Grow into the ending
Like tombstones in the sun
Under the banner of salvation
We feast the blood of limping nations
While we strive for more
Will we face the truth
Of our own demise
Will we realize
That we only aim at power and control
While we're digging our own fucking hole
We're just digging our own fucking hole
Some say I told you so
Some question all we do
But In the end we all
Don't want to come up short
Here's to being human
Gods of temptation
Feast till the downfall
Grow into the ending
Like tombstones in the sun
Lyrics submitted by EternalTearsOfSorrow
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I think this about how we are making the world worse for ourselves by continuing to be as we are. I think it's saying, take a look in the mirror at what you've become, can you really have any pride in calling yourself human?