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.
I remember the thirty-five sweet goodbyes
When you put me on the Wolverine up to Annandale
It was still September
When your daddy was quite surprised
To find you with the working girls in the county jail
I was smoking with the boys upstairs when I
Heard about the whole affair, I said oh no
William and Mary won't do
Well, I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I'm never going back
To my old school
Oleanders growing outside her door
Soon they're gonna be in bloom up in Annandale
I can't stand her
Doing what she did before
Living like a gypsy queen in a fairy tale
Well, I hear the whistle but I can't go, I'm gonna
Take her down to Mexico, she said oh no
Guadalajara won't do
Well, I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I'm never going back
To my old school
California tumbles into the sea
That'll be the day I go back to Annandale
Tried to warn you
About Chino and Daddy Gee
But I can't seem to get to you through the U.S. Mail
Well I hear the whistle but I can't go, I'm gonna
Take her down to Mexico, she said oh no
Guadalajara won't do
Well, I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I'm never going back
To my old school
When you put me on the Wolverine up to Annandale
It was still September
When your daddy was quite surprised
To find you with the working girls in the county jail
I was smoking with the boys upstairs when I
Heard about the whole affair, I said oh no
William and Mary won't do
Well, I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I'm never going back
To my old school
Oleanders growing outside her door
Soon they're gonna be in bloom up in Annandale
I can't stand her
Doing what she did before
Living like a gypsy queen in a fairy tale
Well, I hear the whistle but I can't go, I'm gonna
Take her down to Mexico, she said oh no
Guadalajara won't do
Well, I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I'm never going back
To my old school
California tumbles into the sea
That'll be the day I go back to Annandale
Tried to warn you
About Chino and Daddy Gee
But I can't seem to get to you through the U.S. Mail
Well I hear the whistle but I can't go, I'm gonna
Take her down to Mexico, she said oh no
Guadalajara won't do
Well, I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I'm never going back
To my old school
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@RazzMcTazz the EW link seems broken, but a transcript can be found here: prince.org/msg/8/185286 (if this every breaks, it's available at archive.org, too)