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.
Crumbled kingdom
Dead piece of life
With nothing left to burn or kill inside
Dark trembling monsters
Surrounding me
Elusive shadows flowing through the air
I swallow all
As my lungs burn
Crawling, bleeding searching for a pulse
So far from the eyes of God
Mud stained martyred body
So far from careless happiness
Pulling out the tool
Of frantic devastation
In a ditch dying lonely like a whore
Dead piece of life
With nothing left to burn or kill inside
Dark trembling monsters
Surrounding me
Elusive shadows flowing through the air
I swallow all
As my lungs burn
Crawling, bleeding searching for a pulse
So far from the eyes of God
Mud stained martyred body
So far from careless happiness
Pulling out the tool
Of frantic devastation
In a ditch dying lonely like a whore
Lyrics submitted by unclip
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Most their songs I interpret quite literally so I thought I would give a crack at looking at this from a less literal point of view.
Let's assume that this song is actually about a "kingdom" (country). The band is Polish, and Poland has a quite recent history of fighting for their independence (from the Germans to the Russians trying to claim sovereignty over them). So could the song be about Poland?
The first verse could be describing the economic hardship that is hitting Poland (and a lot of Europe) recently. The EU has allowed for a lot of young Poles to leave for greener pastures in other EU nations (e.g. UK, Germany).
The second verse could be looking at the history of Poland, as both Germany and Russia (USSR) encircled the country and shared borders.
The third could be describing that no matter the hardship many Poles will continue to live and breath for their country .. they will give it a pulse again.
The last two seem to again deal with the hardship of life and that it has not crawled out of the ditch yet.
Whether this interpretation is true with the band is another matter, but either way this song takes a dark and bleak view at the subject matter (something that may make it hard for us to truly identify their meaning as our views may not be so pessimistic in the same situation).
nice