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.
Concealed in the night from the light of the moon
Undetected between the heavens, the stars and the seas
They seize the night when it's dark, like inside a tomb
Faintly, their flat black body armor gleams, light it up
From verdict, to deliverance, to retribution
To the very last beat of a dead man's pulse
You can hear the thunder roll, you can hear the engines roar
It causes the ground to quake, to buck and convulse
Lights out in the desert
Battle-born, ready to fight
Your death waits in the dark
And it stalks the night
Night stalkers
The angels of death ride the waves of the air
You barely see the pilots on this Zero Illum night
The avenger's ready now, as the target's growing near
Tracer bullets, shot from the ground, behind enemy lines
Blacked out, we're under radio silence
Night vision on, green halos a' glow
It's killing time, another lesson in violence
Bodies pile up and adrenaline starts to flow
Lights out in the desert
Battle-born, ready to fight
Your death waits in the dark
And it stalks the night
Night stalkers
Yo, when you hear four MH-47 and Black Hawk helicopters
Coming in low in the dark of night
Loaded with rangers and delta force special ops shooters
Locked and loaded, game's over, bitches
Got ya in my night vision
'Bout to let this 30mm canon go
You never seen us coming
So there's no chance of running
Nothing you do can stop them
They're gonna get ya, wanted dead or alive
You can run, but you know they will find you
"Death waits in the dark," and they own the night
Lights out in the desert
Battle-born, ready to fight
Your death waits in the dark
And it stalks the night, the night (the night, the night, the night)
Hydra rockets are all locked and loaded
Laser-guided hellfire missiles are ready and armed
Itchy fingers on thirty mike-mike triggers
They enter the fight, with all their targets acquired
Flying in formation like a black snake
Slithering closely over the map of the earth
Slicing the silvery-blueish night fog to ribbons
The time has come to return dirt back to the dirt, yeah
Undetected between the heavens, the stars and the seas
They seize the night when it's dark, like inside a tomb
Faintly, their flat black body armor gleams, light it up
From verdict, to deliverance, to retribution
To the very last beat of a dead man's pulse
You can hear the thunder roll, you can hear the engines roar
It causes the ground to quake, to buck and convulse
Lights out in the desert
Battle-born, ready to fight
Your death waits in the dark
And it stalks the night
Night stalkers
The angels of death ride the waves of the air
You barely see the pilots on this Zero Illum night
The avenger's ready now, as the target's growing near
Tracer bullets, shot from the ground, behind enemy lines
Blacked out, we're under radio silence
Night vision on, green halos a' glow
It's killing time, another lesson in violence
Bodies pile up and adrenaline starts to flow
Lights out in the desert
Battle-born, ready to fight
Your death waits in the dark
And it stalks the night
Night stalkers
Yo, when you hear four MH-47 and Black Hawk helicopters
Coming in low in the dark of night
Loaded with rangers and delta force special ops shooters
Locked and loaded, game's over, bitches
Got ya in my night vision
'Bout to let this 30mm canon go
You never seen us coming
So there's no chance of running
Nothing you do can stop them
They're gonna get ya, wanted dead or alive
You can run, but you know they will find you
"Death waits in the dark," and they own the night
Lights out in the desert
Battle-born, ready to fight
Your death waits in the dark
And it stalks the night, the night (the night, the night, the night)
Hydra rockets are all locked and loaded
Laser-guided hellfire missiles are ready and armed
Itchy fingers on thirty mike-mike triggers
They enter the fight, with all their targets acquired
Flying in formation like a black snake
Slithering closely over the map of the earth
Slicing the silvery-blueish night fog to ribbons
The time has come to return dirt back to the dirt, yeah
Lyrics submitted by EternalTearsOfSorrow
Night Stalkers Lyrics as written by Tracy Lauren Marrow Dave Mustaine
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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“Night Stalkers” is the second single off the Megadeth’s sixteenth studio album, The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!. It is also the second chapter of the Megadeth’s trilogy of videos for the record.
The song, which is one of the fastest tracks of the album, starts with an ambient sound, and then brings in the vocals accompanied by a fast and thrashy guitar riff. The track features progressive metal elements, and has diverse musical sections.
According to Megadeth’s frontman Dave Mustaine, “Night Stalkers” is about the 160th Battalion with the U.S. Army, and the black-ops helicopters that go in at night, and nobody knows they’re there.