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.
In the summer that I was baptized
My father held me to his side
As they put me into the water
He said how on that day I cried
We were prisoners of love, a love in chains
He was standin' in the door, I was standin' in the rain
With the same hot blood burning in our veins
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
All of the old faces
Asked you why you're back
They fit you with position
And the keys to your daddy's Cadillac
In the darkness of your room
Your mother calls you by your true name
You remember the faces, the places, the names
You know it's never over, it's relentless as the rain
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
In the Bible Cain slew Abel
And East of Eden mama he was cast
You're born into this life paying
For the sins of somebody else's past
Well Daddy worked his whole life for nothing but the pain
Now he walks these empty rooms looking for something to blame
You inherit the sins, you inherit the flames
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Lost but not forgotten, from the dark heart of a dream
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh (hey)
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh (hey)
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh (hey)
My father held me to his side
As they put me into the water
He said how on that day I cried
We were prisoners of love, a love in chains
He was standin' in the door, I was standin' in the rain
With the same hot blood burning in our veins
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
All of the old faces
Asked you why you're back
They fit you with position
And the keys to your daddy's Cadillac
In the darkness of your room
Your mother calls you by your true name
You remember the faces, the places, the names
You know it's never over, it's relentless as the rain
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
In the Bible Cain slew Abel
And East of Eden mama he was cast
You're born into this life paying
For the sins of somebody else's past
Well Daddy worked his whole life for nothing but the pain
Now he walks these empty rooms looking for something to blame
You inherit the sins, you inherit the flames
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Lost but not forgotten, from the dark heart of a dream
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh (hey)
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh (hey)
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh (hey)
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