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.
I read a note my grandma wrote back in 1923
Grandpa kept it in his coat, and he showed it once to me
He said, "Boy, you might not understand
But a long, long time ago
Grandma's daddy didn't like me none
But I loved your grandma so
We had this crazy plan to meet and run away together
Get married in the first town we came to, and live forever
But nailed to the tree where we were supposed to meet instead
I found this letter, and this is what it said
If you get there before I do, don't give up on me
I'll meet you when my chores are through
I don't know how long I'll be
But I'm not gonna let you down, darling wait and see
And between now and then, 'til I see you again
I'll be loving you
Love, me"
I read those words just hours before
My grandma passed away
In the doorway of a church
Where me and grandpa stopped to pray
I know I'd never seen him cry in all my fifteen years
But as he said these words to her
His eyes filled up with tears
If you get there before I do, don't give up on me
I'll meet you when my chores are through
I don't know how long I'll be
But I'm not gonna let you down, darling wait and see
And between now and then, 'til I see you again
I'll be loving you
Love, me
Between now and then, 'til I see you again
I'll be loving you
Love, me
Grandpa kept it in his coat, and he showed it once to me
He said, "Boy, you might not understand
But a long, long time ago
Grandma's daddy didn't like me none
But I loved your grandma so
We had this crazy plan to meet and run away together
Get married in the first town we came to, and live forever
But nailed to the tree where we were supposed to meet instead
I found this letter, and this is what it said
If you get there before I do, don't give up on me
I'll meet you when my chores are through
I don't know how long I'll be
But I'm not gonna let you down, darling wait and see
And between now and then, 'til I see you again
I'll be loving you
Love, me"
I read those words just hours before
My grandma passed away
In the doorway of a church
Where me and grandpa stopped to pray
I know I'd never seen him cry in all my fifteen years
But as he said these words to her
His eyes filled up with tears
If you get there before I do, don't give up on me
I'll meet you when my chores are through
I don't know how long I'll be
But I'm not gonna let you down, darling wait and see
And between now and then, 'til I see you again
I'll be loving you
Love, me
Between now and then, 'til I see you again
I'll be loving you
Love, me
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how can no one comment on this song? it's such a beautiful song with so much meaning. it reminds me of the love a friend of mine has for her husband even years after his death.