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.
Watch what you say
Living and dying
Swallowed decay
Somebody rescue me
Watch what you say
Watch what you want
Living and dying
Faster we're dying, yeah
Destroy this world
Destroy everything that comes too near for me
Destroy this world
Destroy everything that comes too near for me
Destroy this world
Destroy everything that comes too near for me
Destroy this world
Destroy everything that comes too near for me
Destroy
Watch what you say
Living and dying
Swallowed dismay
Ferocious hostility
Watch what you say
Watch what you need
Living and dying
Faster we're dying, yeah
Destroy this world
Destroy everything that comes too near for me
Destroy this world
Destroy everything that comes too near for me
Destroy this world
Destroy everything that comes too near for me
Destroy this world
Destroy everything that comes too near for me
Destroy
Destroy
Life in the monster's grip
Life in the monster's mouth
It's eating lives, the mouth we feed
It feeds on weakened souls
I've been in monster's grip
I've been in circles we call life now
Lives, the mouth we feed
It feeds on weakened souls
It takes us all
In the monster's grip
Life in the monster's mouth
It's eating lives, the mouth we feed
It feeds on weakened souls
It takes us all
It takes us all
It takes serenity
It takes the weaker ones out of this game
This is obscenity
It takes the lone ones out of this world
Destroy this world
Destroy everything that comes too near for me
Destroy this world
Destroy everything that comes too near for me
Destroy this world
Destroy everything that comes too near for me
Destroy this world
Destroy everything that comes too near for me
Destroy
Lyrics submitted by EternalTearsOfSorrow
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I think this song is a warning that if we people don't stand strong & resilient in the face of often insurmountable odds in life, they will then surely at some point get swallowed up in the aftermath.