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.
The river is deep and the road is long,
daylight comes and I want to go home.
Awoke this morning
to find my people's tongues were tied
and in my dreams
they were given books to poison their minds.
The river is deep and the mountain high,
how long before the other side.
We are their mortar,
their building bricks and their clay.
Their gold teeth mirror
both our joys and our pain.
The river is deep and the ocean wide,
who will teach us how to read the signs.
The earth is our mother
she taught us to embrace the light,
now the lord is master
she suffers an eternal night.
You blocked up my ears,
you plucked out my eyes,
you cut out my tongue,
you fed me with lies,
oh lord.
daylight comes and I want to go home.
Awoke this morning
to find my people's tongues were tied
and in my dreams
they were given books to poison their minds.
The river is deep and the mountain high,
how long before the other side.
We are their mortar,
their building bricks and their clay.
Their gold teeth mirror
both our joys and our pain.
The river is deep and the ocean wide,
who will teach us how to read the signs.
The earth is our mother
she taught us to embrace the light,
now the lord is master
she suffers an eternal night.
You blocked up my ears,
you plucked out my eyes,
you cut out my tongue,
you fed me with lies,
oh lord.
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The colonization of paganism (and its values) in conjunction with the oppression of nature. Looking at the world through a rigid set of values blinds you to other realities. In this case, the Western materialistic, post-Christian worldview means that subjugating others is perfectly legitimate so long as it is done in accordance with a 'greater power' (whether god, capital, the free market....)....This is such a tragic, beautiful song!
@camd419 Gasp! 419 is my lucky number!