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.
Today's on fire
The sky is bleeding above me, and I am blistered
I walk these lines of blasphemy, every day
And still
Like a bad star, I'm falling faster down to her
She's the only one who knows, what it is to burn
I feel diseased
Is there no sympathy, from the sun
The sky's still fire
But I am safe in here, from the world outside
So tell me
What's the price to pay for glory
Like a bad star, I'm falling faster down to her
She's the only one who knows, what it is to burn
Today is fine, and she burns
Today is fine, and she burns
She burns
Like a bad star, I'm falling faster down to her
She's the only one who knows, what it is to burn
The sky is bleeding above me, and I am blistered
I walk these lines of blasphemy, every day
And still
Like a bad star, I'm falling faster down to her
She's the only one who knows, what it is to burn
I feel diseased
Is there no sympathy, from the sun
The sky's still fire
But I am safe in here, from the world outside
So tell me
What's the price to pay for glory
Like a bad star, I'm falling faster down to her
She's the only one who knows, what it is to burn
Today is fine, and she burns
Today is fine, and she burns
She burns
Like a bad star, I'm falling faster down to her
She's the only one who knows, what it is to burn
Lyrics submitted by littlelostemoboy
What It Is to Burn Lyrics as written by Alejandro Martinez Linares Alejandro M. Linares
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
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Taken from the official site (finchmusic.com):
Powerful and evocative, What It Is To Burn deals with the emotional roller coaster that is a relationship. It's an unlikely ode to the pit-of-the-stomach pain that only a loved one can cause and the strength it takes to carry on through all the not-knowing and aggravation.
It was in the Bio section. Love this song.