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.
We don't serve your country
Don't serve your king
Know your custom, don't speak your tongue
White man came, took everyone
We don't serve your country
Don't serve your king
White man listen to the songs we sing
White man came, took everything
We carry in our hearts the true country
And that cannot be stolen
We follow in the steps of our ancestry
And that cannot be broken
We don't serve your country
Don't serve your king
Know your custom, don't speak your tongue
White man came, took everyone
We don't need protection
Don't need your hand
Keep your promise on where we stand
We will listen we'll understand
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
We carry in our hearts the true country
And that cannot be stolen
We follow in the steps of our ancestry
And that cannot be broken
We carry in our hearts the true country
And that cannot be stolen
We follow in the steps of our ancestry
And that cannot be broken
Broken
Mining companies, pastoral companies
Uranium companies of, companies of
Collected companies
Got more right than people, yeah
Got more say than people, yeah
More say than the people, oh yeah
More say than people, yeah
More say than people, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Forty thousand years that makes a difference to the state of things
The dead heart
The dead heart
The dead heart, oh, lives here
The dead heart
The dead heart, I said
The dead heart lives
It lives here
Don't serve your king
Know your custom, don't speak your tongue
White man came, took everyone
We don't serve your country
Don't serve your king
White man listen to the songs we sing
White man came, took everything
We carry in our hearts the true country
And that cannot be stolen
We follow in the steps of our ancestry
And that cannot be broken
We don't serve your country
Don't serve your king
Know your custom, don't speak your tongue
White man came, took everyone
We don't need protection
Don't need your hand
Keep your promise on where we stand
We will listen we'll understand
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
We carry in our hearts the true country
And that cannot be stolen
We follow in the steps of our ancestry
And that cannot be broken
We carry in our hearts the true country
And that cannot be stolen
We follow in the steps of our ancestry
And that cannot be broken
Broken
Mining companies, pastoral companies
Uranium companies of, companies of
Collected companies
Got more right than people, yeah
Got more say than people, yeah
More say than the people, oh yeah
More say than people, yeah
More say than people, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Forty thousand years that makes a difference to the state of things
The dead heart
The dead heart
The dead heart, oh, lives here
The dead heart
The dead heart, I said
The dead heart lives
It lives here
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when i first heard this song, i thought it was about native americans. i'm a us citizen, and midnight oils' australian accents didn't really come across in the music. kind of sad that the same fate captured both aboriginies and american indians...
@jkw I can definitely see the linkage with Native Americans ... I suppose it could refer to many aboriginal cultures around the world (with a few adjustments to specifics).
@jkw - pretty much every non-European country on Earth shared the same fate to varying degrees. White men came and took everything.