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.
Oh, I swear my emotions are the enemy
Be dead by now if I'd have
Done what they were telling me
Whisper lies, but they sound like half-truth
Confusing a sick mind isn't that hard to do
You say I'm a hopeless case
I'm a hopeless case (Oh)
You say I'm a hopeless case
I'm a hopeless case (Oh)
I'm afraid I can't trust myself, myself
Don't leave me alone
How you want me to fix myself, myself
All I've ever known, I've ever known
How can I separate me from the remedy?
I can't be sure, be sure
Am I the curse or the cure?
Oh, it's more than a little maddening
Got me second-guessing everything
That's happening
I think, I think I'm in over my head
The more I think about it
The worse that it gets
You say I'm a hopeless case
I'm a hopeless case (Oh)
You say I'm a hopeless case
I'm a hopeless case
I'm afraid I can't trust myself, myself
Don't leave me alone
How you want me to fix myself, myself
All I've ever known, I've ever known
How can I separate me from the remedy?
I can't be sure, be sure
Am I the curse or the cure?
All I see are all my flaws
I see it's all I'm not i'm not senseless
I won't separate this heart to
Make it what you want
You can't tell me anymore (Curse or cure)
I'm afraid I can't trust myself, myself
Don't leave me alone
How you want me to fix myself, myself
All I've ever known, I've ever known
How can I separate me from the remedy?
I can't be sure, be sure
Am I the curse or the cure? (Oh)
Am I the curse or the cure? (Oh)
Am I the curse or the cure?
Be dead by now if I'd have
Done what they were telling me
Whisper lies, but they sound like half-truth
Confusing a sick mind isn't that hard to do
You say I'm a hopeless case
I'm a hopeless case (Oh)
You say I'm a hopeless case
I'm a hopeless case (Oh)
I'm afraid I can't trust myself, myself
Don't leave me alone
How you want me to fix myself, myself
All I've ever known, I've ever known
How can I separate me from the remedy?
I can't be sure, be sure
Am I the curse or the cure?
Oh, it's more than a little maddening
Got me second-guessing everything
That's happening
I think, I think I'm in over my head
The more I think about it
The worse that it gets
You say I'm a hopeless case
I'm a hopeless case (Oh)
You say I'm a hopeless case
I'm a hopeless case
I'm afraid I can't trust myself, myself
Don't leave me alone
How you want me to fix myself, myself
All I've ever known, I've ever known
How can I separate me from the remedy?
I can't be sure, be sure
Am I the curse or the cure?
All I see are all my flaws
I see it's all I'm not i'm not senseless
I won't separate this heart to
Make it what you want
You can't tell me anymore (Curse or cure)
I'm afraid I can't trust myself, myself
Don't leave me alone
How you want me to fix myself, myself
All I've ever known, I've ever known
How can I separate me from the remedy?
I can't be sure, be sure
Am I the curse or the cure? (Oh)
Am I the curse or the cure? (Oh)
Am I the curse or the cure?
Lyrics submitted by EternalTearsOfSorrow
Curse or Cure Lyrics as written by Shawn M. Jump Amy V. A. Jump
Lyrics © Bluewater Music Corp.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think this is about someone with a mental illness who feels kinda like a rat trapped in a maze, cause everyone around them wants to lead them in various directions & to try all these solutions that due to this they're growing more anxious and insane in the process.