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.
Your mother came up to me,
She wanted answers only she should know,
Only she should know.
It wasn't easy to deal with the tears that rolled down her face.
I had no answers 'cause I didn't even know you.
But these words
They can't replace,
The life you,
The life you waste.
How could you paint this picture?
Was life as bad as it should seem, that there were no more options for you?
I can't explain how I feel.
I've been there many times before.
I've tasted the cold steel of my life crashing down before me.
But these words
They can't replace,
The life you,
The life you waste.
Did daddy not love you?
Or did he love you just too much?
Did he control you?
Did he live through you at your cost?
Did he leave no questions for you to answer on your own?
Well fuck them,
And fuck her,
And fuck him,
And fuck you,
For not having the strength in your heart to pull through.
I've had doubts,
I have failed,
I've fucked up,
I've had plans,
Doesn't mean I should take my life with my own hands.
But these words
They can't replace,
The life you,
The life you waste
But these words
They don't replace,
The life you,
The life you waste.
She wanted answers only she should know,
Only she should know.
It wasn't easy to deal with the tears that rolled down her face.
I had no answers 'cause I didn't even know you.
But these words
They can't replace,
The life you,
The life you waste.
How could you paint this picture?
Was life as bad as it should seem, that there were no more options for you?
I can't explain how I feel.
I've been there many times before.
I've tasted the cold steel of my life crashing down before me.
But these words
They can't replace,
The life you,
The life you waste.
Did daddy not love you?
Or did he love you just too much?
Did he control you?
Did he live through you at your cost?
Did he leave no questions for you to answer on your own?
Well fuck them,
And fuck her,
And fuck him,
And fuck you,
For not having the strength in your heart to pull through.
I've had doubts,
I have failed,
I've fucked up,
I've had plans,
Doesn't mean I should take my life with my own hands.
But these words
They can't replace,
The life you,
The life you waste
But these words
They don't replace,
The life you,
The life you waste.
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This song displays emotions felt by Aaron Lewis about a friend's mother asking him questions about his apparent suicide. Aaron tries to show that suicide shouldn't be the way out. He gets tired of her questioning and breaks into the hard (Well fuck them and fuck...) part of the song in which produces chills in me whenever i hear the song. The last line (But these words...(also seen elsewhere in the song)) is his thought that you should not waste your life for your problems, and what he is now saying will not help what has been said and done. This is my unique perception on the song. I am, As always Animosity