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.
Our course is coarsely plotted
On a map of shoddy dreams,
But hindsight will reveal
Time's moving faster than it seems.
Maybe I'm just selfish,
I've got nothing left to give.
I'm still a foolish boy,
I've got a lifetime left to live,
And I was swinging like a madman,
Not quite sure of what I felled,
And I might never understand
Exactly what it was I'd held,
And now I watch the sun descending
From the weathered gravel roof,
And I recall the sky once told me
That all lies lead to the truth.
So I'll look the other way,
And I'll turn a deafened ear,
And I'll talk of distant lands,
Pretend I was never here.
Reality beads on my skin
Like a slicker in the rain,
But now I feel it soaking in
And I begin to feel the pain.
I fight the urge to run to you,
This is how it has to be.
We've gotta step away right now,
We're just too close to see,
And I was swinging like a madman,
Not quite sure of what I felt,
And I might never understand
Exactly what it was I'd held,
And now I watch the sun descending
From the weathered gravel roof,
And I recall the sky once told me
That all lies lead to the truth.
So I'll look the other way,
And I'll turn a deafened ear,
And I'll talk of distant lands,
Pretend I was never here,
And I'll look the other way,
And I'll turn a deafened ear,
And I'll talk distant lands,
Pretend I was never here.
On a map of shoddy dreams,
But hindsight will reveal
Time's moving faster than it seems.
Maybe I'm just selfish,
I've got nothing left to give.
I'm still a foolish boy,
I've got a lifetime left to live,
And I was swinging like a madman,
Not quite sure of what I felled,
And I might never understand
Exactly what it was I'd held,
And now I watch the sun descending
From the weathered gravel roof,
And I recall the sky once told me
That all lies lead to the truth.
So I'll look the other way,
And I'll turn a deafened ear,
And I'll talk of distant lands,
Pretend I was never here.
Reality beads on my skin
Like a slicker in the rain,
But now I feel it soaking in
And I begin to feel the pain.
I fight the urge to run to you,
This is how it has to be.
We've gotta step away right now,
We're just too close to see,
And I was swinging like a madman,
Not quite sure of what I felt,
And I might never understand
Exactly what it was I'd held,
And now I watch the sun descending
From the weathered gravel roof,
And I recall the sky once told me
That all lies lead to the truth.
So I'll look the other way,
And I'll turn a deafened ear,
And I'll talk of distant lands,
Pretend I was never here,
And I'll look the other way,
And I'll turn a deafened ear,
And I'll talk distant lands,
Pretend I was never here.
Lyrics submitted by Ridicule
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