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.
They packed up all his buckles and shipped his saddle to his dad
And by the way the house looked, she must have took it bad
The workers come on Monday to fix the door and patch the wall
They say she just went crazy the night she got the call
He was up in Wyoming and drew a bull no man could ride
He promised her he'd turn own well it turned out that he lied
And the dreams that they'd been living in the California sand
Died right there beside him in Cheyenne
They say she just went crazy screamin' out his name
She ran out into the ocean and to this day they claim
That if you go down by the water you'll see her footprints in the sand
'Cause every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne
They never found her body, just her diary by the bed
It told about the fight they had and the words that she had said
When he told her he was ridin' she said, 'Then I don't give a damn
If you never come back from Cheyenne?
They say she just went crazy screamin' out his name
She ran out into the ocean and to this day they claim
That if you go down by the water you'll see her footprints in the sand
'Cause every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne
Nobody can explain it, some say she's still alive
They'd even claim they've seen her on the shoreline late at night
And if you go down by the water, you'll see her footprints in the sand
'Cause every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne
'Cause every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne
And by the way the house looked, she must have took it bad
The workers come on Monday to fix the door and patch the wall
They say she just went crazy the night she got the call
He was up in Wyoming and drew a bull no man could ride
He promised her he'd turn own well it turned out that he lied
And the dreams that they'd been living in the California sand
Died right there beside him in Cheyenne
They say she just went crazy screamin' out his name
She ran out into the ocean and to this day they claim
That if you go down by the water you'll see her footprints in the sand
'Cause every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne
They never found her body, just her diary by the bed
It told about the fight they had and the words that she had said
When he told her he was ridin' she said, 'Then I don't give a damn
If you never come back from Cheyenne?
They say she just went crazy screamin' out his name
She ran out into the ocean and to this day they claim
That if you go down by the water you'll see her footprints in the sand
'Cause every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne
Nobody can explain it, some say she's still alive
They'd even claim they've seen her on the shoreline late at night
And if you go down by the water, you'll see her footprints in the sand
'Cause every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne
'Cause every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
I am from Cheyenne, was even in the stands the day Lane Frost died at the CFD rodeo in 1989. (I was ten yrs old that summer :), ahh the memories) Growing up in Cheyenne always heard that song was about Lane Frost in a round-a-bout way. Some of it would match up anyway. Now "the beaches of Cheyenne".... for years I thought of that. I always thought that part maybe in reference to the "sand" like dirt that makes up the rodeo arena. "Every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne"- her mourning ghost walking around the rodeo arena where her man died. Just my opinion as a Cheyenne native. :) No matter, it is a BEAUTIFUL song by Garth.