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.
Why's it so strange when they say
That the world's movin' upwards?
Why's it surreal when my hands
Feel they can't roll the dice?
Why's it so great just to wake every day
Alive and by your side
It's a mystery I guess
There's lots of things I can't find
It's not the way that you look
But your move that catches my eye
Why's it so soft when the cannons
Unload on the others?
Why're we so loud when we say
It won't happen to us?
Why does my mind blow to bits
Every time they play that song?
It's just the way that he sings
Not the words that he says, or the band
I'm in love with this soul
It's a meaning that I understand
That the world's movin' upwards?
Why's it surreal when my hands
Feel they can't roll the dice?
Why's it so great just to wake every day
Alive and by your side
It's a mystery I guess
There's lots of things I can't find
It's not the way that you look
But your move that catches my eye
Why's it so soft when the cannons
Unload on the others?
Why're we so loud when we say
It won't happen to us?
Why does my mind blow to bits
Every time they play that song?
It's just the way that he sings
Not the words that he says, or the band
I'm in love with this soul
It's a meaning that I understand
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Everything up to the last three lines are just things. As the listener, relate to them, enjoy them, sing them, apply them whatever you like, 'cause they're leading up to the point of the song: "Not the words that he says, or the band. I'm in love with this soul, It's a meaning that I understand."