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.
Meet me in the morning
56th and Wabasha
Meet me in the morning
56th and Wabasha
Honey, we could be in Kansas
By time the snow begins to thaw
They say the darkest hous
Is right before the dawn
They say the darkest hour
Is right before the dawn
But you wouldn't know it by me
Every day's been darkness since you been gone
Little rooster crowin'
There must be something on his mind
Little rooster crowin'
There must be something on his mind
Well, I feel just like that rooster
Honey, ya treat me so unkind
Well, I struggled through barbed wire
Felt the hail fall from above
Well, I struggled through barbed wire
Felt the hail fall from above
Well, you know I even outran the hound dogs
Honey, you know I've earned your love
Look at the sun
Sinkin' like a ship
Look at the sun
Sinkin' like a ship
Ain't that just like my heart, babe
When you kissed my lips?
56th and Wabasha
Meet me in the morning
56th and Wabasha
Honey, we could be in Kansas
By time the snow begins to thaw
They say the darkest hous
Is right before the dawn
They say the darkest hour
Is right before the dawn
But you wouldn't know it by me
Every day's been darkness since you been gone
Little rooster crowin'
There must be something on his mind
Little rooster crowin'
There must be something on his mind
Well, I feel just like that rooster
Honey, ya treat me so unkind
Well, I struggled through barbed wire
Felt the hail fall from above
Well, I struggled through barbed wire
Felt the hail fall from above
Well, you know I even outran the hound dogs
Honey, you know I've earned your love
Look at the sun
Sinkin' like a ship
Look at the sun
Sinkin' like a ship
Ain't that just like my heart, babe
When you kissed my lips?
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I think this song might be Dylan's plea at a reconciliation with Sara Lowndes. If you think in terms of the phases of a deteriorating relationship, the ordering of the tracks on Blood on the Tracks follows something like this.
Track four, Idiot Wind: really bad fight between Bob & Sarah that destroyed their marriage.
Track five, You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome...: She threatens leaving and inevitably does...
It leads to the synopsis on top...Dylan was an artist whose talent knew no earthly bounds. I love this song, I love this album, I love Bob's musicianship. It's the most classic of all his material.