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.
Well, you were there when the wall came down
A baby king with a grown man's crown
And we played in the sun as the curtain was crumbling
Well, I was young and I could not see
That if you go, won't you please take me'
And you told me that I would forget you eventually
(And I nearly did)
Yeah, yeah
I thought it was over but it's not
I thought it was over but it's not
I'm spinning in circles, I can't stop
I thought it was over but it's not
I'm in love with a fool
And you don't know what you've lost
It hurts from the bottom to the top
I thought it was over but it's not, yeah
Another year and the job was done
The old republic was dead and gone
And the new way of living would be a reality
But it's a while since you shut that door
I lie awake, ain't asleep no more
Though the nightmare is gone now I don't have a dream
(I don't have a dream)
I thought it was over but it's not
I thought it was over but it's not
I'm spinning in circles, I can't stop
I thought it was over but it's not
I'm in love with a fool
And you don't know what you've lost
It hurts from the bottom to the top
I thought it was over but it's not
Does anybody know
Does anybody know
Does anybody know
Does anybody know
I thought it was over but it's not
I thought it was over but it's not
I'm spinning in circles, I can't stop
I thought it was over but it's not
I'm in love with a fool
And you don't know what you've lost
It hurts from the bottom to the top
I thought it was over but it's not
A baby king with a grown man's crown
And we played in the sun as the curtain was crumbling
Well, I was young and I could not see
That if you go, won't you please take me'
And you told me that I would forget you eventually
(And I nearly did)
Yeah, yeah
I thought it was over but it's not
I thought it was over but it's not
I'm spinning in circles, I can't stop
I thought it was over but it's not
I'm in love with a fool
And you don't know what you've lost
It hurts from the bottom to the top
I thought it was over but it's not, yeah
Another year and the job was done
The old republic was dead and gone
And the new way of living would be a reality
But it's a while since you shut that door
I lie awake, ain't asleep no more
Though the nightmare is gone now I don't have a dream
(I don't have a dream)
I thought it was over but it's not
I thought it was over but it's not
I'm spinning in circles, I can't stop
I thought it was over but it's not
I'm in love with a fool
And you don't know what you've lost
It hurts from the bottom to the top
I thought it was over but it's not
Does anybody know
Does anybody know
Does anybody know
Does anybody know
I thought it was over but it's not
I thought it was over but it's not
I'm spinning in circles, I can't stop
I thought it was over but it's not
I'm in love with a fool
And you don't know what you've lost
It hurts from the bottom to the top
I thought it was over but it's not
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Ok, I've figured out what the choir sings in the two verses:
I could not see Said please take me Told me And I nearly did
I shut that door I sleep on more Nightmare I don't have a dream