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.
Tell your mom you need a day off
So we can play out in the rain
We'll catch a ride to the mall
Go down to the arcarde
Cause that's where all the cool kids play
tell your mom you need a day off
Cause I don't feel like school today
We'll ride our boards down the hill
And to the playground
Where everythings ok
tell your mom we will be home late
Cause building cabins in the woods is hard work
you always know that I'll be there
Cause I'm the type,
And you'll be near
My closest friend,
We'll always be
You are a hometown kid like me
Tell your mom to make us lunch now
Cause we worked up an appetite
G.I.
Joes and karate matches in the back yard
Where everything's alright
now I can see that things have changed
We've gone our separate ways now
and it's not you and me
Anymore,
Whoa...
why can't it be the way it was
When they were us...
My closest friends have turned and fled
You are a million miles away
and I guess I'll hold my breath
(there is no harm for hoping for change)
And I guess I'll hold my breath
(there is no harm in hoping for change)
And I guess I'll hold my Breath
(there is no harm in hoping for change)
And I guess I'll hold my breath...
So we can play out in the rain
We'll catch a ride to the mall
Go down to the arcarde
Cause that's where all the cool kids play
tell your mom you need a day off
Cause I don't feel like school today
We'll ride our boards down the hill
And to the playground
Where everythings ok
tell your mom we will be home late
Cause building cabins in the woods is hard work
you always know that I'll be there
Cause I'm the type,
And you'll be near
My closest friend,
We'll always be
You are a hometown kid like me
Tell your mom to make us lunch now
Cause we worked up an appetite
G.I.
Joes and karate matches in the back yard
Where everything's alright
now I can see that things have changed
We've gone our separate ways now
and it's not you and me
Anymore,
Whoa...
why can't it be the way it was
When they were us...
My closest friends have turned and fled
You are a million miles away
and I guess I'll hold my breath
(there is no harm for hoping for change)
And I guess I'll hold my breath
(there is no harm in hoping for change)
And I guess I'll hold my Breath
(there is no harm in hoping for change)
And I guess I'll hold my breath...
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I cant believe these lyrics didnt get more attention..this was one of the first songs i had ever heard by TJT, and its the reason I began listening to them. It really describes the innocence of youth, and when life was defined as simplicity.."Building Cabins in the woods" I love that line, because It brings be back to a time when I built cabins with my best friends..now everything has changed..and Im left with the haunting memorys of how life use to be..where pain was fixed with bandaids..and bestfriends were are whole world..where did those days go?