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.
Recession repression regression
Shifts of scenery
And warning tremors of landslides
The sun comes down
The mountains move aside
Your kingdom slips out of your hands
chorus: Your tyranny
I was part of
Is now cracking
On every side
And your own life
Is in danger
Your empire
Is on fire
The staggering blows
Are shaking the walls
Nowhere, no place to hide this time
Flare up / Calm down
There is more sand than oil in your engine
Shifts of scenery
And warning tremors of landslides
The sun comes down
The mountains move aside
Your kingdom slips out of your hands
chorus: Your tyranny
I was part of
Is now cracking
On every side
And your own life
Is in danger
Your empire
Is on fire
The staggering blows
Are shaking the walls
Nowhere, no place to hide this time
Flare up / Calm down
There is more sand than oil in your engine
Lyrics submitted by iconnu
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this would be a good song to play for people like Hitler, Napoleon, Saddam Hussein, Louis XVI, etc.