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.
Read it in the papers, it ain't fair
You know who today don't seem to care
Livin' lovin' gettin' loose
Masturbatin' with a noose
Now someone's kickin' out the chair
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Some kind of Voodoo
Come across this land
Some kind of Voodoo
We need a medicine man
Everybody's lookin' at the sky
Can't believe the cover ups and lies
They been tellin' us since birth
Pissin' off old Mother Earth
My gones are by-gones prophesized
Come on
Some kind of Voodoo
Come across this land
Some kind of Hoodoo
We need a medicine man
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Wonder should I go or should I stay
What we got ain't working any way
I did my best, God knows I've tried
I feel like I've been crucified
Why did you, why did you,
Why did you take it all away
You
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
You know who today don't seem to care
Livin' lovin' gettin' loose
Masturbatin' with a noose
Now someone's kickin' out the chair
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Some kind of Voodoo
Come across this land
Some kind of Voodoo
We need a medicine man
Everybody's lookin' at the sky
Can't believe the cover ups and lies
They been tellin' us since birth
Pissin' off old Mother Earth
My gones are by-gones prophesized
Come on
Some kind of Voodoo
Come across this land
Some kind of Hoodoo
We need a medicine man
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Wonder should I go or should I stay
What we got ain't working any way
I did my best, God knows I've tried
I feel like I've been crucified
Why did you, why did you,
Why did you take it all away
You
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
Yoodoo, Voodoo, Medicine Man
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I Say that Steven Tyler is right on target here. Voodoo Medicine Man is one of the best Aerosmith songs because he is angry that we are ticking off Mother Earth. Steven has seen the headlines on TV and the paper and he does not like what he hears and sees. Tyler is mad as hell and he's not gonna take it anymore! He has every right to be! No wonder he titles the second Aerosmith biography Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? The Answer to that Question is a resounding Yes! My favorite and the best song from Pump.