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.
Wake up, you sleepy head
Put on some clothes, shake up your bed
Put another log on the fire for me
I've made some breakfast and coffee
Look out my window, what do I see
A crack in the sky and a hand reaching down to me
All the nightmares came today
And it looks as though they're here to stay
What are we coming to?
No room for me, no fun for you
I think about a world to come
Where the books were found by the golden ones
Written in pain, written in awe
By a puzzled man who questioned
What we were here for
All the strangers came today
And it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh, you pretty things (oh, you pretty things)
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and papas insane?
Oh, you pretty things (oh, you pretty things)
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and papas insane?
Let me make it plain
Gotta make way for the Homo Superior
Look out at your children
See their faces in golden rays
Don't kid yourself, they belong to you
They're the start of the coming race
The earth is a bitch
We've finished our news
Homo Sapiens have outgrown their use
All the strangers came today
And it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh, you pretty things (oh, you pretty things)
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and papas insane?
Oh, you pretty things (oh, you pretty things)
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and papas insane?
Let me make it plain
Gotta make way for the Homo Superior
Put on some clothes, shake up your bed
Put another log on the fire for me
I've made some breakfast and coffee
Look out my window, what do I see
A crack in the sky and a hand reaching down to me
All the nightmares came today
And it looks as though they're here to stay
What are we coming to?
No room for me, no fun for you
I think about a world to come
Where the books were found by the golden ones
Written in pain, written in awe
By a puzzled man who questioned
What we were here for
All the strangers came today
And it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh, you pretty things (oh, you pretty things)
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and papas insane?
Oh, you pretty things (oh, you pretty things)
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and papas insane?
Let me make it plain
Gotta make way for the Homo Superior
Look out at your children
See their faces in golden rays
Don't kid yourself, they belong to you
They're the start of the coming race
The earth is a bitch
We've finished our news
Homo Sapiens have outgrown their use
All the strangers came today
And it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh, you pretty things (oh, you pretty things)
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and papas insane?
Oh, you pretty things (oh, you pretty things)
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and papas insane?
Let me make it plain
Gotta make way for the Homo Superior
Lyrics submitted by magicnudiesuit
Oh! You Pretty Things Lyrics as written by David Bowie
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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!
It's about either the replacement of men with the Nietzschean "Homo Superior" or Ubermenchen - or it's a reference to the failed flower power generation, with a jab at the most commercial sixties band ever, "The Mamas and the Papas" as in, we the new glam kids will drive you hippies insane.