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.
Windows are closing
Keep me locked away
No chance was given
To find myself today
My time of aging
Wonder when I'll die
But when my time will come
I'll know the reason why
I have an escape
Alone it keeps me safe within my home
I have a reason
To keep me satisfied until I'm gone
Don't regret the rules I broke
When I die bury me in smoke
Under the world
I wait for my fate
My soul is resting
Beneath my blissful haze
My time of aging
Wonder when I'll die
But when my time will come
I'll know the reason why
I have an escape
Alone it keeps me safe within my home
I have a reason
To keep me satisfied until I'm gone
Don't regret the rules I broke
When I die bury me in smoke
Smoke, bury me in smoke, smoke
Smoke, smoke, smoke
Keep me locked away
No chance was given
To find myself today
My time of aging
Wonder when I'll die
But when my time will come
I'll know the reason why
I have an escape
Alone it keeps me safe within my home
I have a reason
To keep me satisfied until I'm gone
Don't regret the rules I broke
When I die bury me in smoke
Under the world
I wait for my fate
My soul is resting
Beneath my blissful haze
My time of aging
Wonder when I'll die
But when my time will come
I'll know the reason why
I have an escape
Alone it keeps me safe within my home
I have a reason
To keep me satisfied until I'm gone
Don't regret the rules I broke
When I die bury me in smoke
Smoke, bury me in smoke, smoke
Smoke, smoke, smoke
Lyrics submitted by fun with razors, edited by marccao609
Bury Me in Smoke Lyrics as written by Philip Anselmo Pepper Keenan
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Damn, everyone fucking assumes that songs are about drugs... look at the pages for Alice in Chains and Nirvana... even bands who never really got into hard drugs like Pearl Jam... it's becoming a cliche topic.
Anyway, I dont think this song is about weed either. Hail the Leaf certainly is. But this song is kinda like Down's Cowboys From Hell... this is who the fuck we are, and we're here to stay, and if you got a problem with it, fuck off.
Love the line "Dont regret the rules I broke, when I die, bury me in smoke" I think that line means that the speaker will hold on to his convictions and his beliefs to the grave.
Ever been to a Down concert? Yeah, didn't think so.
No, I havent. I know their fans are pot smokers and so are they. But that doesnt mean every one of their fucking songs is about it.