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 used to know this woman
Who had the most beautiful tattoos
On the top sides of both of her hands
She was forty-three years old and as far as I know
Had never yet been with a man
It's not that she wasn't attractive
She was beautiful but it was the way that she interacted
She was aggressively passive to the point
Where she would've intimidated any mitt
That ever tried to catch it
On the right hand she had a tattoo of a nude girl
She claimed it is what God resembled
But on the left she had a mirrored image of the same female
And this one she explained looked like the devil
I remember once watching her touch her own breasts
How the tattoos smiled as they stared down her stomach
As if anticipating when they'd be allowed to caress
The sweet flower that they both seemed to hunger
(Sweet flower)
Now maybe I was high but it felt so right
Heaven and Hell both take to this woman's womb
It didn't make sense how she could commence
Touching herself with me wide awake in the same room
But if I've learned anything in my years
(My years)
I learned I no longer believe in surprise
(In surprise)
But what happened next damn near stoled my tears
The tattoos came alive right in front of my eyes
They both slowly stood up and climbed off her hands
And showed me why she never took some time with a man
They climbed deep inside of this woman's garden
She closed her eyes and she gently bit her bottom lip
I stepped I left and I don't regret leaving
And I'll never forget all the things I saw that evening
A glimpse of religion a piece of coming closer
To understanding more about what intrigues me most
I didn't get turned on I just got turned
I wasn't as aroused as I was concerned
For each one of 'em I've hurt and every time I've been burned
I've got a lot to teach but even more to learn
So now I keep my eyes open hoping to take in all I can
About women taking in all she can
And for as long as I breathe I'll save receipt
In my memory for that woman with the tattooed hands
There's good and evil in each individual fire
Identifies needs and feeds our desire
As long as we keep our spirit inspired
She can bite her bottom lip all she wants
There's good and evil in each individual fire
Identifies needs and feeds our desire
As long as we keep our spirit inspired
She can bite her bottom lip all she wants
There's good and evil in each individual fire
Identifies needs and feeds our desire
As long as we keep our spirit inspired
She can bite her bottom lip all she wants
...
Who had the most beautiful tattoos
On the top sides of both of her hands
She was forty-three years old and as far as I know
Had never yet been with a man
It's not that she wasn't attractive
She was beautiful but it was the way that she interacted
She was aggressively passive to the point
Where she would've intimidated any mitt
That ever tried to catch it
On the right hand she had a tattoo of a nude girl
She claimed it is what God resembled
But on the left she had a mirrored image of the same female
And this one she explained looked like the devil
I remember once watching her touch her own breasts
How the tattoos smiled as they stared down her stomach
As if anticipating when they'd be allowed to caress
The sweet flower that they both seemed to hunger
(Sweet flower)
Now maybe I was high but it felt so right
Heaven and Hell both take to this woman's womb
It didn't make sense how she could commence
Touching herself with me wide awake in the same room
But if I've learned anything in my years
(My years)
I learned I no longer believe in surprise
(In surprise)
But what happened next damn near stoled my tears
The tattoos came alive right in front of my eyes
They both slowly stood up and climbed off her hands
And showed me why she never took some time with a man
They climbed deep inside of this woman's garden
She closed her eyes and she gently bit her bottom lip
I stepped I left and I don't regret leaving
And I'll never forget all the things I saw that evening
A glimpse of religion a piece of coming closer
To understanding more about what intrigues me most
I didn't get turned on I just got turned
I wasn't as aroused as I was concerned
For each one of 'em I've hurt and every time I've been burned
I've got a lot to teach but even more to learn
So now I keep my eyes open hoping to take in all I can
About women taking in all she can
And for as long as I breathe I'll save receipt
In my memory for that woman with the tattooed hands
There's good and evil in each individual fire
Identifies needs and feeds our desire
As long as we keep our spirit inspired
She can bite her bottom lip all she wants
There's good and evil in each individual fire
Identifies needs and feeds our desire
As long as we keep our spirit inspired
She can bite her bottom lip all she wants
There's good and evil in each individual fire
Identifies needs and feeds our desire
As long as we keep our spirit inspired
She can bite her bottom lip all she wants
...
Lyrics submitted by nocuous_sunshine
The Woman With the Tattooed Hands Lyrics as written by Lamont Herbert Dozier
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
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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
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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.
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
yo, let's not get this incorrect. Rap is the watered-down bastard little brother of hip-hop. 50 cent is rap. atmosphere is hip-hop. and this song is about people embodying both good and evil.