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.
She lies on the bed
With her hands in her head
And she screams
He gets a kick out of losing the plot so it seems
He makes you all laugh so she's the one
Doing harm
But how can you fight when she's not
The one under his arm
These dreams have let you down
Take it don't break it just turn it around
These dreams won't let you down
You never stopped loving his misfortunate
Lazy ways
All the memories that you should've had
Are a cabaret haze
There's just a hole where you know he
Should've been
There's no one worse off than you
When you can't describe what you've seen
These dreams have let you down
Take it don't break it just it turn around
These dreams won't let you down
Where do you go when you're all alone
In your bed
Do you cry in your sleep cos it's
Better unsaid
Have you forgotten your past because
That's how it seems
Is it too hard to think so you edit
Your dreams
And play them back again and again
These dreams have let you down
Take it don't break it just turn it around
These dreams won't let you down
These dreams have let you down
Take it don't break it just turn it around
These dreams won't let you down
You've got tomorrow tomorrow
You've got tomorrow tomorrow
You've got tomorrow tomorrow
You've got tomorrow tomorrow
You've got tomorrow tomorrow
With her hands in her head
And she screams
He gets a kick out of losing the plot so it seems
He makes you all laugh so she's the one
Doing harm
But how can you fight when she's not
The one under his arm
These dreams have let you down
Take it don't break it just turn it around
These dreams won't let you down
You never stopped loving his misfortunate
Lazy ways
All the memories that you should've had
Are a cabaret haze
There's just a hole where you know he
Should've been
There's no one worse off than you
When you can't describe what you've seen
These dreams have let you down
Take it don't break it just it turn around
These dreams won't let you down
Where do you go when you're all alone
In your bed
Do you cry in your sleep cos it's
Better unsaid
Have you forgotten your past because
That's how it seems
Is it too hard to think so you edit
Your dreams
And play them back again and again
These dreams have let you down
Take it don't break it just turn it around
These dreams won't let you down
These dreams have let you down
Take it don't break it just turn it around
These dreams won't let you down
You've got tomorrow tomorrow
You've got tomorrow tomorrow
You've got tomorrow tomorrow
You've got tomorrow tomorrow
You've got tomorrow tomorrow
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Glassjaw
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its amazing how far music can come.. 24 years after it released and its one of the most heartfelt songs ive heard
Fast Car
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
@Gabigs I think you hit the hammer on the nail so well it went straight through and out the other side as if using a nail gun on a way too thin piece of wood. Emotionally open, sincere, thoughtful, lengthy, and insightful, or the really short version: Perfection. Thank you. 2006! Wow, that’s a couple of days ago, huh? Instantly thought “I wonder how she’s doing now, hopefully, happy or at least content which reminds me of the following. Now 43, I’ve been a Robbie fanboy since Take That hit the big time on MTV (back when they actually played music), read a biography in ~2005.
His darker songs have always been some of the most relatable songs I’ve ever heard since my life hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows either. I follow him and Aida on Instagram. Makes me feel hopeful on my own behalf and more than anything feel all warm and fuzzy inside seeing him finally happy and then some.
I took a glance thru your comments to see if something recent was there, hoping for something from the sunnier side of life. Oh, you’re definitely a Robbie fangirl like me, except for the girl part, obviously.
November 13, 2020, on Melalie C’s Reason you wrote: “How great to get a "rate up" after more than 15 years that I wrote that comment. Wow. It's always nice when somebody reads and reacts to what I wrote about a song so long ago. Specially since life has changed so much since then!!”
I think I can safely assume you’ll appreciate this here more than a meager upvote or “Great comment!” comment, and clearly, your time and effort spent writing this comment on “These Dreams” makes me think of a certain L’Oreal slogan, just minus the lotion bit.
All the best, and thanks again. Peace.
PS: Have you seen these two on YouTube? “Robbie Williams - Angels - Etihad Manchester 2 June 17”
“Michael Jackson - Will You Be There | Live at MTV's 10th Anniversary Special, 1991” which I just found yesterday (saw him in concert on his 39th birthday in 1997 at 18).
If you’re anything like me, do bring tissues for both of them ;-P