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.
Lookin' back on my life
You know that all I see
Are things I could've changed
I should have done
Where did the good times go?
Good times so hard to hold
This time this time
This time I'm gonna find
Lookin' back on my life
You know that all I see
Are things I could've changed
I could have done
No time for sad lament
A wasted life is bitter spent
So rise into the light
In or out of time
Gonna rise straight through the light
In or out of time
Woke up one other day
The pain won't go away
I am growing
In peculiar ways
Into a light I pass
Another dream, another trance
This time, this time
This time I'm gonna rise into the light
In or out of time
Gonna find my way in life
In or out of sight
I'm still seeing things in black and white
Gonna rise straight into the light
In or out of sight
I'm gonna see the light
I'm gonna see the light
I'm gonna see the light
'Cause I know there is time
There is time
There is time
There is time
There is time
There is time
There is time
There is time
This time, this time
This time, this time
This time, this time
This time, this time
You know that all I see
Are things I could've changed
I should have done
Where did the good times go?
Good times so hard to hold
This time this time
This time I'm gonna find
Lookin' back on my life
You know that all I see
Are things I could've changed
I could have done
No time for sad lament
A wasted life is bitter spent
So rise into the light
In or out of time
Gonna rise straight through the light
In or out of time
Woke up one other day
The pain won't go away
I am growing
In peculiar ways
Into a light I pass
Another dream, another trance
This time, this time
This time I'm gonna rise into the light
In or out of time
Gonna find my way in life
In or out of sight
I'm still seeing things in black and white
Gonna rise straight into the light
In or out of sight
I'm gonna see the light
I'm gonna see the light
I'm gonna see the light
'Cause I know there is time
There is time
There is time
There is time
There is time
There is time
There is time
There is time
This time, this time
This time, this time
This time, this time
This time, this time
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surely one of the best alternative songs ever.