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.
Born from some mother's womb
Just like any other room
Made a promise for a new life
Made a victim out of your life
When your time's on the door
And it drips to the floor
And you feel you can touch
All the noise is too much
And the seeds that are sown
Are no longer your own
Just a minor operation
To force a final ultimatum
Thousand words are spoken loud
Reach the dumb to fool the crowd
When you walk down the street
And the sound's not so sweet
And you wish you could hide
Maybe go for a ride
To some peep-show arcade
Where the future's not made
A nightmare situation
Infiltrate imagination
Smacks of past Holy wars
By the wall with broken laws
The leaders of men
Born out of your frustration
The leaders of men
Just a strange infatuation
The leaders of men
Made a promise for a new life
No savior for our sakes
To twist the internees of hate
Self-induced manipulation
To crush all thoughts of mass salvation
Just like any other room
Made a promise for a new life
Made a victim out of your life
When your time's on the door
And it drips to the floor
And you feel you can touch
All the noise is too much
And the seeds that are sown
Are no longer your own
Just a minor operation
To force a final ultimatum
Thousand words are spoken loud
Reach the dumb to fool the crowd
When you walk down the street
And the sound's not so sweet
And you wish you could hide
Maybe go for a ride
To some peep-show arcade
Where the future's not made
A nightmare situation
Infiltrate imagination
Smacks of past Holy wars
By the wall with broken laws
The leaders of men
Born out of your frustration
The leaders of men
Just a strange infatuation
The leaders of men
Made a promise for a new life
No savior for our sakes
To twist the internees of hate
Self-induced manipulation
To crush all thoughts of mass salvation
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To me this song expresses several things. It expresses anger and frustration that authority figures cause when they impose their will on you. "the seeds that are sown are no longer your own."
It also speaks of dumb people who will believe anything that they are told by polititions,teachers and other people in power. "A thousand words are spoken loud. Reach the dumb to fool the crowd."
"When you walk down the street And the sound's not so sweet And you wish you could hide Maybe go for a ride...."