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.
An imitation from New York
You're made in Japan from cheese and chalk
You're hippy tarts hero
'Cause you put on a bad show
You put on a bad show
Oh, don't it show
Still out on those pills
Oh, do you remember?
You think it's swell playing Max's Kansas
You're looking bored and you're acting flash
With nothing in your gut
You better keep your mouth shut
You better keep your mouth shut
In a rut
Still out on those pills
Do the sambo
Four years on you still look the same
I think about time
You changed your brain
You're just a pile of shit
You're coming to this
Ya poor little faggot
You're sealed with a kiss
Kiss me
Think it's swell playing in Japan
Everybody knows Japan is a dishpan
You're just a pile of shit
You're coming to this
Ya poor little faggot
You're sealed with a kiss
Still out on those pills
Cheap thrills Anadins
Aspros, anything
You're condemned to eternal bullshit
You're sealed with a kiss
Kiss me
A kiss, a kiss
You're sealed with a kiss
A looking for a kiss
You're coming to this
I wanna kiss
You do just about anything
Oh, kiss this
Tatty bye
You're made in Japan from cheese and chalk
You're hippy tarts hero
'Cause you put on a bad show
You put on a bad show
Oh, don't it show
Still out on those pills
Oh, do you remember?
You think it's swell playing Max's Kansas
You're looking bored and you're acting flash
With nothing in your gut
You better keep your mouth shut
You better keep your mouth shut
In a rut
Still out on those pills
Do the sambo
Four years on you still look the same
I think about time
You changed your brain
You're just a pile of shit
You're coming to this
Ya poor little faggot
You're sealed with a kiss
Kiss me
Think it's swell playing in Japan
Everybody knows Japan is a dishpan
You're just a pile of shit
You're coming to this
Ya poor little faggot
You're sealed with a kiss
Still out on those pills
Cheap thrills Anadins
Aspros, anything
You're condemned to eternal bullshit
You're sealed with a kiss
Kiss me
A kiss, a kiss
You're sealed with a kiss
A looking for a kiss
You're coming to this
I wanna kiss
You do just about anything
Oh, kiss this
Tatty bye
Lyrics submitted by spunkykitten
New York Lyrics as written by Johnny Rotten Glen Matlock
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Hipgnosis Songs Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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