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.
Lightning crashes a new mother cries
Her placenta falls to the floor
The angel opens her eyes
The confusion sets in
Before the doctor can even close the door
Lightning crashes an old mother dies
Her intentions fall to the floor
The angel closes her eyes
The confusion that was hers
Belongs now to the baby down the hall
Oh now feel it, coming back again
Like a rolling, thunder chasing the wind
Forces pulling from
The center of the earth again
I can feel it
Lightning crashes a new mother cries
This moment she's been waiting for
The angel opens her eyes
Pale blue colored iris
Presents the circle
Puts the glory out to hide, hide
Oh now feel it, coming back again
Like a rolling, thunder chasing the wind
Forces pulling from
The center of the earth again
I can feel it
I can feel it
Oh, I
Oh, I
Oh, I
I can feel it, coming back again
Like a rolling, thunder chasing the wind
Forces pulling from
The center of the earth again
I can feel it
I can feel it, coming back again
Like a rolling, thunder chasing the wind
Forces pulling from
The center of the earth again
I can feel it
I can feel it, coming back again
Like a rolling, thunder chasing the wind
Forces pulling from
The center of the earth again
I can feel it
I can feel it
I can feel it
Her placenta falls to the floor
The angel opens her eyes
The confusion sets in
Before the doctor can even close the door
Lightning crashes an old mother dies
Her intentions fall to the floor
The angel closes her eyes
The confusion that was hers
Belongs now to the baby down the hall
Oh now feel it, coming back again
Like a rolling, thunder chasing the wind
Forces pulling from
The center of the earth again
I can feel it
Lightning crashes a new mother cries
This moment she's been waiting for
The angel opens her eyes
Pale blue colored iris
Presents the circle
Puts the glory out to hide, hide
Oh now feel it, coming back again
Like a rolling, thunder chasing the wind
Forces pulling from
The center of the earth again
I can feel it
I can feel it
Oh, I
Oh, I
Oh, I
I can feel it, coming back again
Like a rolling, thunder chasing the wind
Forces pulling from
The center of the earth again
I can feel it
I can feel it, coming back again
Like a rolling, thunder chasing the wind
Forces pulling from
The center of the earth again
I can feel it
I can feel it, coming back again
Like a rolling, thunder chasing the wind
Forces pulling from
The center of the earth again
I can feel it
I can feel it
I can feel it
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this song is easily one of my favorites. it has such an uncanny urgency in the chorus and bridge. this song was the reason i began listening to Live. the lyrics are absolutely mind-blowing.i'm gonna try my best to put them together into a semi-logical whole. the first two lines ("it's easier not to be wise/ and measure these things by your brains"), i think ed is trying to say that things aren't always what they seem. i know thats a huge cliche, but it also shows the ignorance of arrogance, such that we see things, and think we understand them by our own reason, and not necessarily theirs. notice how ed says "i sank into eden with you/ alone in the church by and by." its interesting that he is with someone, but is also alone at the same time. then, he says "i'll read to you here, save your eyes/ you'll need them, your boat is at sea." i think ed is going for a view of true nature here. he's saying that you need focus and awareness to attain it (your true nature). and it's so overwhelming that "you've been swept away" as soon as "your anchor is up". the lead-in to the chorus is odd, such that i don't think "the greatest of teachers" would choose for someone to be "chained to fate". the conclusion