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.
You've got to pick up the pieces
Come on, sort your trash, you better pull yourself back together
Maybe you've got too much cash
Better call, call the law
When you gonna turn yourself in?
Yeah, you're a politician
Don't become one of Hitler's children
Bonzo goes to Bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on TV somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy
Pick up the pieces
My brain is hanging upside down, I need something to slow me down
Ooh yeah, my brain is hanging upside down and I need something to slow me down
Shouldn't wish you happiness
Wish her the very best
Fifty-thousand dollar dress
Shaking hands with your highness
See through you like cellophane, you watch the world complain
But you do it anyway, who am I, am I to say?
Bonzo goes to Bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on TV somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy
Pick up the pieces
My brain is hanging upside down, I need something to slow me down
Ooh yeah, my brain is hanging upside down and I need something to slow me down
If there's one thing that makes me sick it's when someone tries to hide behind politics
I wish that time could go by fast, somehow they manage to make it last
Ooh yeah, my brain is hanging upside down, I need something to slow me down
Ooh yeah, my brain is hanging upside down and I need something to slow me down
Ooh yeah, my brain is hanging upside down and I need something to slow me down
Come on, sort your trash, you better pull yourself back together
Maybe you've got too much cash
Better call, call the law
When you gonna turn yourself in?
Yeah, you're a politician
Don't become one of Hitler's children
Bonzo goes to Bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on TV somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy
Pick up the pieces
My brain is hanging upside down, I need something to slow me down
Ooh yeah, my brain is hanging upside down and I need something to slow me down
Shouldn't wish you happiness
Wish her the very best
Fifty-thousand dollar dress
Shaking hands with your highness
See through you like cellophane, you watch the world complain
But you do it anyway, who am I, am I to say?
Bonzo goes to Bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on TV somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy
Pick up the pieces
My brain is hanging upside down, I need something to slow me down
Ooh yeah, my brain is hanging upside down and I need something to slow me down
If there's one thing that makes me sick it's when someone tries to hide behind politics
I wish that time could go by fast, somehow they manage to make it last
Ooh yeah, my brain is hanging upside down, I need something to slow me down
Ooh yeah, my brain is hanging upside down and I need something to slow me down
Ooh yeah, my brain is hanging upside down and I need something to slow me down
Lyrics submitted by BobSaget666
Bonzo Goes to Bitburg Lyrics as written by Jean Beauvoir Dee Dee Ramone
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Whether we agree with Johnny's political views or not, I think he must be respected for sticking to his beliefs and not selling out just because it would have been more popular to do so. After all, isn't that one of the things we really like about the Ramones to begin with?