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.
Off through the new day's mist I run
Off from the new day's mist I have come
I hunt therefore I am
Harvest the land
Taking of the fallen lamb
Off through the new day's mist I run
Off from the new day's mist I have come
We shift pulsing with the earth
Company we keep
Roaming the land while you sleep
Shape shift, nose to the wind
Shape shift, feeling I've been
Move swift, all senses clean
Earth's gift, back to the meaning (back to the meaning) of life
Bright is the moon, high in starlight
Chill is the air, cold as steel tonight
We shift, call of the wild
Fear in your eyes, it's later than you realized
Shape shift, nose to the wind
Shape shift, feeling I've been
Move swift, all senses clean
Earth's gift back to the meaning (back to the meaning) of life
I feel I change
Back to a better day
(Shape shift) hair stands on the back of my neck
(Shape shift) in wildness is the preservation of the world
So seek the wolf and not the man
Shape shift, nose to the wind
Shape shift, feeling I've been
Move swift, all senses clean
Earth's gift
Back to the meaning (back to the meaning) of wolf and man, yeah
Off from the new day's mist I have come
I hunt therefore I am
Harvest the land
Taking of the fallen lamb
Off through the new day's mist I run
Off from the new day's mist I have come
We shift pulsing with the earth
Company we keep
Roaming the land while you sleep
Shape shift, nose to the wind
Shape shift, feeling I've been
Move swift, all senses clean
Earth's gift, back to the meaning (back to the meaning) of life
Bright is the moon, high in starlight
Chill is the air, cold as steel tonight
We shift, call of the wild
Fear in your eyes, it's later than you realized
Shape shift, nose to the wind
Shape shift, feeling I've been
Move swift, all senses clean
Earth's gift back to the meaning (back to the meaning) of life
I feel I change
Back to a better day
(Shape shift) hair stands on the back of my neck
(Shape shift) in wildness is the preservation of the world
So seek the wolf and not the man
Shape shift, nose to the wind
Shape shift, feeling I've been
Move swift, all senses clean
Earth's gift
Back to the meaning (back to the meaning) of wolf and man, yeah
Lyrics submitted by fennsk, edited by TKProdoctions, Ashram
Of Wolf And Man Lyrics as written by Kirk L. Hammett James Alan Hetfield
Lyrics © Word Collections Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I've always thought that this song was both about werewolves myself, being an avid player of Werewolf The apocalypse influenced that.
But i have no reason why it can't be both metaphorical and about werewolves.
We all wear different masks because America is not really a free society. it is beliefs and opinions that count, along with conformity, not individuality, objectivity, fairness, and factual based beliefs and opinions after all. If you are not the same as the group yo are with the will punish you to correct your behavior to one that they approve of, or be ostracize if you don't conform. That's just the way it is in America, regardless of the hoopla of freedom, inalienable rights, and civil liberties, and all that razamatazz.
you have to have different masks you wear in order to survive in American culture. The masks that you wear at work to avoid being fired, You have to wear the face of a husband if you're married. You have to wear the face of a father if you have children. so on and so forth.
Everything is a mask you wear to the outside, you can only be yourself when you're alone and in the dark. That can of personality can be a change of shape.
This doesn't include people who like to change their appearance either, by changing their clothes a lot or dyeing their hair, or with plastic surgery.
So in my ripe old age, I think it is both about werewolves and just a general metaphor for how we all act to find a place for us in our society.