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.
Yeah
Here we stand or here we fall
History won't care at all
Make the bed, light the light
Lady Mercy won't be home tonight
You don't waste no time at all
Don't hear the bell but you answer the call
It comes to you as to us all
Yeah, we're just waiting for the hammer to fall, yeah
Oh every night, and every day
A little piece of you is falling away
But lift your face the Western way
Build your muscles as your body decays, yeah
Tow the line and play their game
Yeah, let the anesthetic cover it all
'Til one day they call your name
You know it's time for the hammer to fall
Rich or poor or famous
For your truth it's all the same
(Oh no, oh no)
Oh, lock your door but rain is pouring
Through your window pane
(Oh no)
Hey yeah, baby, now your struggle's all in vain, yeah
For we who grew up tall and proud
In the shadow of the Mushroom Cloud
Convinced our voices can't be heard
We just wanna scream it louder and louder and louder
What the hell are we fighting for?
Ah, just surrender and it won't hurt at all
You just got time to say your prayers
Yeah, while you're waiting for the hammer to, hammer to fall
Hey, yes
Let's get on the floor, yeah
Hammer
You know
Hammer to fall
Yeah
Hey, woo hoo
Ha ha, ha ha
I've been waiting for the hammer to fall
Give it to me one more time
Here we stand or here we fall
History won't care at all
Make the bed, light the light
Lady Mercy won't be home tonight
You don't waste no time at all
Don't hear the bell but you answer the call
It comes to you as to us all
Yeah, we're just waiting for the hammer to fall, yeah
Oh every night, and every day
A little piece of you is falling away
But lift your face the Western way
Build your muscles as your body decays, yeah
Tow the line and play their game
Yeah, let the anesthetic cover it all
'Til one day they call your name
You know it's time for the hammer to fall
Rich or poor or famous
For your truth it's all the same
(Oh no, oh no)
Oh, lock your door but rain is pouring
Through your window pane
(Oh no)
Hey yeah, baby, now your struggle's all in vain, yeah
For we who grew up tall and proud
In the shadow of the Mushroom Cloud
Convinced our voices can't be heard
We just wanna scream it louder and louder and louder
What the hell are we fighting for?
Ah, just surrender and it won't hurt at all
You just got time to say your prayers
Yeah, while you're waiting for the hammer to, hammer to fall
Hey, yes
Let's get on the floor, yeah
Hammer
You know
Hammer to fall
Yeah
Hey, woo hoo
Ha ha, ha ha
I've been waiting for the hammer to fall
Give it to me one more time
Lyrics submitted by jhines0042
Hammer To Fall Lyrics as written by Brian May
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is about death and that it is just a matter of time (hence waiting for the hammer to fall). However, this is specifically about Brian being a child in the 1950s when they would have "fall out drills" in school and thought of nuclear war was ever present (and still within the minds of the people who were alive during WWII and Hiroshima). The fear of imminent death was instilled in even the young in the 1950s. Although fall out drills were no longer happening in schools, myself, being a child of the 80s with Reagan and the Cold War when this song was written, the nuclear threat was very present. I dreamed about seeing mushroom clouds and there were many nuclear war films such as War Games and The Day After out around the time Brian wrote this. I feel like this was Brian's discussing the current Cold War with images and the fears he had as a youth in the 1950s.