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.
Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble
Ancient footprints are everywhere
You can almost think that you're seein' double
On a cold, dark night by the Spanish Stairs
Got to hurry on back to my hotel room
Gonna wash my clothes, scrape off all the grease
Gonna lock the doors and turn my back on the world for a while
I'll stay right there 'til I paint my masterpiece
Well, the hours I've spent inside the Coliseum
Dodging lions with that mean and hungry look
Those mighty kings of the jungle, I could hardly stand to see 'em
I could see 'em comin', I could read their faces like a book
Train wheels runnin' through the back of my memory
When I ran on the hilltop following a pack of wild geese
Someday, everything is gonna be different
When I paint, when I paint my masterpiece
Sailin' 'round the world full of crimson and clover
Sometimes I feel just like my cup isn't runnin' over
I left Rome and I pulled into Brussels
On a plane ride so bumpy that it made me ill
Clergymen in uniform and young girls pullin' muscles
Everyone was there to meet me, comin' down the hill
Newspapermen eating candy
Had to be held back by big police
Someday, everything is going to be beautiful
When I paint my masterpiece
Ancient footprints are everywhere
You can almost think that you're seein' double
On a cold, dark night by the Spanish Stairs
Got to hurry on back to my hotel room
Gonna wash my clothes, scrape off all the grease
Gonna lock the doors and turn my back on the world for a while
I'll stay right there 'til I paint my masterpiece
Well, the hours I've spent inside the Coliseum
Dodging lions with that mean and hungry look
Those mighty kings of the jungle, I could hardly stand to see 'em
I could see 'em comin', I could read their faces like a book
Train wheels runnin' through the back of my memory
When I ran on the hilltop following a pack of wild geese
Someday, everything is gonna be different
When I paint, when I paint my masterpiece
Sailin' 'round the world full of crimson and clover
Sometimes I feel just like my cup isn't runnin' over
I left Rome and I pulled into Brussels
On a plane ride so bumpy that it made me ill
Clergymen in uniform and young girls pullin' muscles
Everyone was there to meet me, comin' down the hill
Newspapermen eating candy
Had to be held back by big police
Someday, everything is going to be beautiful
When I paint my masterpiece
Lyrics submitted by gracelyn, edited by AGAGAGAGAGAGAG
When I Paint My Masterpiece [Shadow Kingdom Version] Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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i know this is months later and you may never see it but i really agree with your take on this classic and one of my personal favorites of both bob's and the band's cover.
maybe not so much about specifically doing drugs through europe (although it certainly fits no doubt in bob's biography at that point in his life as well as in the lyrics themselves) but in a general sense as well. you are very right i think that it is almost like a has been or a a never was preaching to no one in particular about how it will all be good in a bit...
cheers