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.
I'm digging my way
I'm digging my way to something
I'm digging my way to something better
I'm pushing to stay
I'm pushing to stay with something
I'm pushing to stay with something better
Whoa oh oh oh
Whoa oh
I'm sowing the seeds
I'm sowing the seeds I've taken
I'm sowing the seeds I take for granted
This thorn in my side
This thorn in my side is from the tree
This thorn in my side is from the tree I've planted
Ooh, it tears me and I bleed, yeah
And I bleed yeah, yeah, ha
Caught under wheel's roll
I take the leech, I'm bleeding me
Can't stop to save my soul
I take the leash that's leading me
I'm bleeding me, oh
Oh, I can't take it
Caught under wheel's roll
Oh, the bleeding of me
Of me, yeah
The bleeding of me
Caught under wheel's roll
I take the leech, I'm bleeding me
Can't stop to save my soul
I take the leash that's leading me
I'm bleeding me, whoa whoa
Oh, I can't take it
Caught under wheel's roll
Oh, the bleeding of me
Oh, the bleeding of me
Woo, ah
I am the beast that feeds the feast
I am the blood, I am release
Come make me pure
Bleed me a cure
I'm caught, I'm caught, I'm caught under
Caught under wheel's roll
I take the leech, I'm bleeding me
Can't stop to save my soul
I take the leash that's leading me
I'm bleeding me
Oh, I can't take it
I can't take it
I can't take it
Oh, the bleeding of me
(Come on, bleed me)
Ummm, yeah
I'm digging my way
I'm digging my way to something
I'm digging my way to something better
I'm pushing to stay
I'm pushing to stay with something
I'm pushing to stay with something better
With something better
I'm digging my way to something
I'm digging my way to something better
I'm pushing to stay
I'm pushing to stay with something
I'm pushing to stay with something better
Whoa oh oh oh
Whoa oh
I'm sowing the seeds
I'm sowing the seeds I've taken
I'm sowing the seeds I take for granted
This thorn in my side
This thorn in my side is from the tree
This thorn in my side is from the tree I've planted
Ooh, it tears me and I bleed, yeah
And I bleed yeah, yeah, ha
Caught under wheel's roll
I take the leech, I'm bleeding me
Can't stop to save my soul
I take the leash that's leading me
I'm bleeding me, oh
Oh, I can't take it
Caught under wheel's roll
Oh, the bleeding of me
Of me, yeah
The bleeding of me
Caught under wheel's roll
I take the leech, I'm bleeding me
Can't stop to save my soul
I take the leash that's leading me
I'm bleeding me, whoa whoa
Oh, I can't take it
Caught under wheel's roll
Oh, the bleeding of me
Oh, the bleeding of me
Woo, ah
I am the beast that feeds the feast
I am the blood, I am release
Come make me pure
Bleed me a cure
I'm caught, I'm caught, I'm caught under
Caught under wheel's roll
I take the leech, I'm bleeding me
Can't stop to save my soul
I take the leash that's leading me
I'm bleeding me
Oh, I can't take it
I can't take it
I can't take it
Oh, the bleeding of me
(Come on, bleed me)
Ummm, yeah
I'm digging my way
I'm digging my way to something
I'm digging my way to something better
I'm pushing to stay
I'm pushing to stay with something
I'm pushing to stay with something better
With something better
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
Metallica frontman James Hetfield explained what the song is about in a 2001 interview with Playboy:
"Around the time of Load, I felt I wanted to stop drinking. "Maybe I'm missing out on something. Everyone else seems so happy all the time. I want to get happy." I'd plan my life around a hangover: "The Misfits are playing in town Friday night, so Saturday is hangover day." I lost a lot of days in my life. Going to therapy for a year, I learned a lot about myself. There's a lot of things that scar you when you're growing up, you don't know why. The song Bleeding Me is about that: I was trying to bleed out all bad, get the evil out. While I was going through therapy, I discovered some ugly stuff in there. A dark spot."