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 sing myself to sleep
A song from the darkest hour
Secrets I can't keep
In sight of the day
Swing from high to deep
Extremes of sweet and sour
Hope that God exists
I hope, I pray
Drawn by the undertow
My life is out of control
I believe this wave will bear my weight
So let it flow
Oh sit down (sit down)
Oh sit down (sit down, sit down)
Oh sit down (sit down)
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down (sit down, sit down)
Down, down, down (sit down, sit down)
In sympathy
Now I'm relieved to hear
That you've been to some far out places
It's hard to carry on
When you feel all alone
Now I've swung back down again
And it's worse than it was before
If I hadn't seen such riches
I could live with being poor
Oh sit down (sit down)
Oh sit down (sit down, sit down)
Oh sit down (sit down)
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down (sit down, sit down)
Down, down, down (sit down, sit down)
In sympathy
Those who feel the breath of sadness
Sit down next to me
Those who find they're touched by madness
Sit down next to me
Those who find themselves ridiculous
Sit down next to me
In love, in fear, in hate, in tears
In love, in fear, in hate, in tears
In love, in fear, in hate, in tears
In love, in fear, in hate
Down
Down
Oh sit down (sit down)
Oh sit down (sit down, sit down)
Oh sit down (sit down)
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down (sit down, sit down)
Down, down, down (sit down, sit down)
In sympathy
Oh sit down (sit down)
Oh sit down (sit down, sit down)
Oh sit down (sit down)
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down (sit down, sit down)
Down, down, down (sit down, sit down)
In sympathy
Down
A song from the darkest hour
Secrets I can't keep
In sight of the day
Swing from high to deep
Extremes of sweet and sour
Hope that God exists
I hope, I pray
Drawn by the undertow
My life is out of control
I believe this wave will bear my weight
So let it flow
Oh sit down (sit down)
Oh sit down (sit down, sit down)
Oh sit down (sit down)
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down (sit down, sit down)
Down, down, down (sit down, sit down)
In sympathy
Now I'm relieved to hear
That you've been to some far out places
It's hard to carry on
When you feel all alone
Now I've swung back down again
And it's worse than it was before
If I hadn't seen such riches
I could live with being poor
Oh sit down (sit down)
Oh sit down (sit down, sit down)
Oh sit down (sit down)
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down (sit down, sit down)
Down, down, down (sit down, sit down)
In sympathy
Those who feel the breath of sadness
Sit down next to me
Those who find they're touched by madness
Sit down next to me
Those who find themselves ridiculous
Sit down next to me
In love, in fear, in hate, in tears
In love, in fear, in hate, in tears
In love, in fear, in hate, in tears
In love, in fear, in hate
Down
Down
Oh sit down (sit down)
Oh sit down (sit down, sit down)
Oh sit down (sit down)
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down (sit down, sit down)
Down, down, down (sit down, sit down)
In sympathy
Oh sit down (sit down)
Oh sit down (sit down, sit down)
Oh sit down (sit down)
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down (sit down, sit down)
Down, down, down (sit down, sit down)
In sympathy
Down
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I love this song, like most people who have ever heard it. It's universal because we can all relate to that feeling of being a stranger or an outsider in life, and it's powerful to hear another weirdo reaching out to you through the dark. :)
Here are some general comments made about the lyrics by Tim Booth for The Guardian:
"The opening line, "I'll sing myself to sleep, a song from the darkest hour," refers to my insomnia. I was writing at 2-3am. The lines "Now I'm relieved to hear that you've been to some far-out places, it's hard to carry on when you feel all alone" were me thinking of Patti Smith and Doris Lessing.
They both connected to me when I felt very alone and misunderstood. Throughout my teens, I'd had an undiagnosed illness and my skin was almost yellow. When I was 21, I'd almost died, so I was feeling pretty tortured in those days.
That line "I swung back down again" is about the mood swings I used to go through. I was meditating a lot to try and find some meaning to it all, and you can get quite high on that. Then you come back down to reality. I was celibate, no alcohol, vegetarian and living a monkish life, but when you're meditating for days at a time you get to some pretty far-out places. So "If I hadn't seen such riches I could live with being poor" is about the places I reached through meditation – the riches are psychological. When I'm writing, I let this stuff pour out spontaneously. If I start thinking about it too much, I usually bugger it up.
The lyrics about empathy with the sick and mentally ill were probably my way of wanting to be a beacon for other people in the way Smith and Lessing were for me. The line "Those who find themselves ridiculous, sit down next to me …" somehow stops the song being pompous."
@poweroutage The comment of a very erudite person, love it!!