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.
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
rammsteinworld.com/en/lyrics/translations/rammstein
I like EduardoSilva's take, but I also see room for more interpretations.
This could be about corruption and hypocrisy in the Catholic Church, if not also other gentile denominations of Christianity.
Note the Latin word "extraspection". Assuming this is a cognate, it implies, in the context of the Deutsch lyrics, that the Church in question is looking for and condemning [perceived] evil without while ignoring any within. Basically, it takes "Halleluja" and expands its scope.
Perhaps the narrator is imploring God to appear and dispel the doubt and confusion, to show what is truly right and wrong, to show who is right and wrong, to reveal the lies and crimes of the religious authorities. (Compare and contrast the final lines of "Sacrificed Sons" by Dream Theater.)
Perhaps the narrator is telling the Church to show itself: to lay bare all its iniquity and confess its sins. ("Show yourself, you coward!")
In partial agreement with EduardoSilva, this could be a Christian questioning or losing its faith, both due to the corruption of the Church (especially its officials' failure to hold themselves to at least the same standards as everyone else) and to perceived broken promises ("Kein Engel in der Not / In distress, no angel", "Kein Gott zeigt sich / No god shows itself").