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.
Sex jibe husband murders wife
Bomb blast victim fights for life
Girl, thirteen, attacked with knife
Princess Di is wearing a new dress
Jet airliner shot from sky
Famine horror, millions die
Earthquake terror figures rise
Princess Di is wearing a new dress
You can't change the world
But you can change the facts
And when you change the facts
You change points of view
If you change points of view
You may change a vote
And when you change a vote
You may change the world
In black townships fires blaze
Prospects better premier says
Within sight are golden days
Princess Di is wearing a new dress
You can't change the world
But you can change the facts
And when you change the facts
You change points of view
If you change points of view
You may change a vote
And when you change a vote
You may change the world
Princess Di is wearing a new dress
Princess Di is wearing a new dress
Princess Di is wearing a new dress
Princess Di is wearing a new dress
Bomb blast victim fights for life
Girl, thirteen, attacked with knife
Princess Di is wearing a new dress
Jet airliner shot from sky
Famine horror, millions die
Earthquake terror figures rise
Princess Di is wearing a new dress
You can't change the world
But you can change the facts
And when you change the facts
You change points of view
If you change points of view
You may change a vote
And when you change a vote
You may change the world
In black townships fires blaze
Prospects better premier says
Within sight are golden days
Princess Di is wearing a new dress
You can't change the world
But you can change the facts
And when you change the facts
You change points of view
If you change points of view
You may change a vote
And when you change a vote
You may change the world
Princess Di is wearing a new dress
Princess Di is wearing a new dress
Princess Di is wearing a new dress
Princess Di is wearing a new dress
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It's crazy that over 25 years on, nothing has changed at all. In fact, it's much worse. It's a very similar message to Panic by The Smiths.