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.
The path you tread is narrow
And the drop is shear and very high
The ravens all are watching
From a vantage point nearby
Apprehension creeping
Like a tube-train up your spine
Will the tightrope reach the end
Will the final couplet rhyme
And it's high time
Cymbaline
It's high time
Cymbaline
Please wake me
The lines converging where you stand
They must have moved the picture plane
The leaves are heavy around your feet
You feel the thunder of the train
Suddenly it strikes you
That they're moving into range
Doctor Strange is always changing size
And it's high time
Cymbaline
It's high time
Cymbaline
Please wake me
And the drop is shear and very high
The ravens all are watching
From a vantage point nearby
Apprehension creeping
Like a tube-train up your spine
Will the tightrope reach the end
Will the final couplet rhyme
And it's high time
Cymbaline
It's high time
Cymbaline
Please wake me
The lines converging where you stand
They must have moved the picture plane
The leaves are heavy around your feet
You feel the thunder of the train
Suddenly it strikes you
That they're moving into range
Doctor Strange is always changing size
And it's high time
Cymbaline
It's high time
Cymbaline
Please wake me
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
Cymbaline Lyrics as written by Nick Turner Dave Brock
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, T.R.O. INC.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The Shakespeare play is Cymbeline, not Cymbaline. Similarity between the two is probably not much greater than incidental.