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.
Tadpole buoyant as basalt
The seahorse horsing in assault
The owlet in his greenery
The narwhal in his cup of sea
They all believe
They all believe
But collusion bleeds through back alleys
From parapets that end on feet
When one is weak they discretely meet
They throw the bones into the street
And they progress
And we retreat
And all the books our fathers wrote
Are in the middle of the road
Little by little, we implode
History brittle, brown and broke
We can't remember what was spoke
So we stare in wonder at the smoke
What it begets is born alone
We know not now what we have known
Ladies, breathe deep against your whalebones
For your children come home made of stone
The terror seething sees a way
Or like the wheezing of the bay
In miniature agonies
They travel westward on the breeze
Bring us all to our knees
The dappled horse, the sorrel mare
With eyes that do not see but stare
Beneath boots as black as malachite
He drives the nag into the night
Into the night
And all the baby boys we've born
With eyes averted from the storm
Sent off to die in perfect form
We know not now what we have known
Satellite photos, rhetoric
See how the euphemisms stick
And when they come back broke and burned
Those who return have no return
The seahorse horsing in assault
The owlet in his greenery
The narwhal in his cup of sea
They all believe
They all believe
But collusion bleeds through back alleys
From parapets that end on feet
When one is weak they discretely meet
They throw the bones into the street
And they progress
And we retreat
And all the books our fathers wrote
Are in the middle of the road
Little by little, we implode
History brittle, brown and broke
We can't remember what was spoke
So we stare in wonder at the smoke
What it begets is born alone
We know not now what we have known
Ladies, breathe deep against your whalebones
For your children come home made of stone
The terror seething sees a way
Or like the wheezing of the bay
In miniature agonies
They travel westward on the breeze
Bring us all to our knees
The dappled horse, the sorrel mare
With eyes that do not see but stare
Beneath boots as black as malachite
He drives the nag into the night
Into the night
And all the baby boys we've born
With eyes averted from the storm
Sent off to die in perfect form
We know not now what we have known
Satellite photos, rhetoric
See how the euphemisms stick
And when they come back broke and burned
Those who return have no return
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Oh... I once thought it was about people being sent off to the army...
"Ladies, breathe deep against your whalebones For your children come home made of stone"
Aside from the interesting fun fact that she uses whalebones in "Colleen" as well... I think this could be about how they come back made of stone as in... their hearts hardened by what they experienced, and how that must be hard for the mothers.
"And all the baby boys we've born With eyes averted from the storm Sent off to die in perfect form We know now what we have known"
Could be something like... the baby boys that they raised so safely, trying to shield them from the tough world outside, are now sent off to fight in the war and possibly die (in perfect form, because they would have to be fit). By the way, this should also be "we know not now what we have known", but I'm not sure what she means. I have some thoughts, but I don't wanna speak them because I'm too unsure.
"And when they come back broke and burned Those who return have no return"
I always heard "those who return have not returned", to be honest, and thought that was meant to say how they had changed, so they're different people now and have thus in a way not returned. If it is "Those who return have no return", that could mean something like how they can't erase their experiences to go back to the person they were before.
It feels to me like there might be some images of the war itself in the rest of the song, but I'm not too good at figuring out imagery like that :( and I dunno what the malachite would be, either.