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.
Workhouse?
Yeah? What do you want?
Information
Who the fuck do you think you are? You never fucking stop
Always wanting something for nothing
OK. I'll give you want you want I'll give you information
All these songs about Christ, spooks and personal vendettas
Organ donations, there's a mini operetta
Are people gonna say you've gone off your rocker
Well, I'm the brightest thing on the roster
And I sleep well when I turn out the light
I'm like an off-duty comedian at the end of a bad night
Easy to like admire, difficult to love
You've gotta believe me when I say I never wanted to be liked
And I defy the curfew
A sense of humour is the most overrated virtue
Get off your knees you grovelling bastards
This is Oliver twist pissing over Britannia
200 years of Tin Pan Alley
I learned good from a king thief mentor
Newgate, Broadstreet, Langdales Distillery
Papist threats and no popery
It's a beautiful night again
So paint the wall white again
Brutality for the kids
Oliver Twist
There was this gang who I used to run with
Ragamuffins, urchin scum, spivs
Looking good comes in handy
When you're dipping in the pockets of a dandy
And there's treason in the air, it's just a leap of faith
There's murder in the air at Rillington Place
A Christie lives in Soho
This is the Oliver Twist Manifesto
Totality for the kids
Oliver Twist
I'm operating now under four different names
I can use anyone of them, anytime again
And I've never been one to hold a grudge
Twists has turned vicious
What if all the malevolent cripples
The Raspberry ripples
Are just putting it on?
And they're the brightest of all of the people
Oliver Twist, vaudeville Spook mentalist
Disappear into a pea souper
Swooping down on your back
Coming out of a cold snap
Into a pea souper
A cartarista
It was meant to be great
But it's gone wrong again
It's a beautiful night
So paint the wall white again
Get of your knees
''cause Christie lives
It's a beautiful night for Treason
Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist
Yeah? What do you want?
Information
Who the fuck do you think you are? You never fucking stop
Always wanting something for nothing
OK. I'll give you want you want I'll give you information
All these songs about Christ, spooks and personal vendettas
Organ donations, there's a mini operetta
Are people gonna say you've gone off your rocker
Well, I'm the brightest thing on the roster
And I sleep well when I turn out the light
I'm like an off-duty comedian at the end of a bad night
Easy to like admire, difficult to love
You've gotta believe me when I say I never wanted to be liked
And I defy the curfew
A sense of humour is the most overrated virtue
Get off your knees you grovelling bastards
This is Oliver twist pissing over Britannia
200 years of Tin Pan Alley
I learned good from a king thief mentor
Newgate, Broadstreet, Langdales Distillery
Papist threats and no popery
It's a beautiful night again
So paint the wall white again
Brutality for the kids
Oliver Twist
There was this gang who I used to run with
Ragamuffins, urchin scum, spivs
Looking good comes in handy
When you're dipping in the pockets of a dandy
And there's treason in the air, it's just a leap of faith
There's murder in the air at Rillington Place
A Christie lives in Soho
This is the Oliver Twist Manifesto
Totality for the kids
Oliver Twist
I'm operating now under four different names
I can use anyone of them, anytime again
And I've never been one to hold a grudge
Twists has turned vicious
What if all the malevolent cripples
The Raspberry ripples
Are just putting it on?
And they're the brightest of all of the people
Oliver Twist, vaudeville Spook mentalist
Disappear into a pea souper
Swooping down on your back
Coming out of a cold snap
Into a pea souper
A cartarista
It was meant to be great
But it's gone wrong again
It's a beautiful night
So paint the wall white again
Get of your knees
''cause Christie lives
It's a beautiful night for Treason
Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist
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i've never had a piece of pie as good as that...