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.
Fuck all that, we've got to get on with these
(Fuck all that, fuck all that)
Got to compete with the wily Japanese
There's too many home fires burning and not enough trees
(Fuck all that)
So fuck all that, we've gotta get on with these
(Gotta get on with these)
Can't stop, lose job
Mind gone, silicon
Stroll on what bomb?
Get away, payday
Make hay, break down
Need fix, big six
Click, click
Hold on, oh no
Bingo (bingo)
Make 'em laugh, make 'em cry
Make 'em dance in the aisles
Make 'em pay, make 'em stay
Make them feel okay
Not now John, we've got to get on with the film show
(Gotta get on, gotta get on)
Hollywood waits at the end of the rainbow
(End of the rainbow)
Who cares what it's about as long as the kids go
(As long as the kids go)
So, not now John, we've gotta get on with the show
(Gotta get on, gotta get on)
(Gotta get on, gotta get on, gotta get on)
Hang on John I've gotta get on with this
(Gotta get on, gotta get on)
Don't know what it is, but it fits on here like, sss
Come at the end of the shift, we'll go and get pissed
But not now John, I've gotta get on with this
(Gotta get on with this, gotta get on)
Hold on John, I think there's something good on
I used to read books but
Could be the news or some other abuse
Could be reusable shows
Fuck all that, we've gotta get on with these
Gota compete with the wily Japanese
(Gotta get on, gotta get on)
No need to worry about the Vietnapeace
Gota bring Russian Bear to his knees
(Gotta get on)
Well, maybe not the Russian Bear, maybe the Swedes
We showed Argentina, now let's go and show these
(Gotta get on, gotta get on)
Make us feel tough and wouldn't Maggie be pleased?
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na
(Na, na, na, na, na, na, na)
(One, two, Free Four)
(One, two, Free Four)
S'cusi, dov'è il bar? (What?) (gotta get on)
Se parakalo, pou einai to bar?
S'il vous plaît, où est le bar? (Say it in English, fairy)
Oi, where's the fucking bar John? (Oh, now you're talking)
(Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the day) (gotta get on, gotta get on)
Down (gotta get on)
Go, Maggie
(Gotta get on, gotta get on)
Hammer, Hammer, Hammer, Hammer, now
(Fuck all that, fuck all that)
Got to compete with the wily Japanese
There's too many home fires burning and not enough trees
(Fuck all that)
So fuck all that, we've gotta get on with these
(Gotta get on with these)
Can't stop, lose job
Mind gone, silicon
Stroll on what bomb?
Get away, payday
Make hay, break down
Need fix, big six
Click, click
Hold on, oh no
Bingo (bingo)
Make 'em laugh, make 'em cry
Make 'em dance in the aisles
Make 'em pay, make 'em stay
Make them feel okay
Not now John, we've got to get on with the film show
(Gotta get on, gotta get on)
Hollywood waits at the end of the rainbow
(End of the rainbow)
Who cares what it's about as long as the kids go
(As long as the kids go)
So, not now John, we've gotta get on with the show
(Gotta get on, gotta get on)
(Gotta get on, gotta get on, gotta get on)
Hang on John I've gotta get on with this
(Gotta get on, gotta get on)
Don't know what it is, but it fits on here like, sss
Come at the end of the shift, we'll go and get pissed
But not now John, I've gotta get on with this
(Gotta get on with this, gotta get on)
Hold on John, I think there's something good on
I used to read books but
Could be the news or some other abuse
Could be reusable shows
Fuck all that, we've gotta get on with these
Gota compete with the wily Japanese
(Gotta get on, gotta get on)
No need to worry about the Vietnapeace
Gota bring Russian Bear to his knees
(Gotta get on)
Well, maybe not the Russian Bear, maybe the Swedes
We showed Argentina, now let's go and show these
(Gotta get on, gotta get on)
Make us feel tough and wouldn't Maggie be pleased?
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na
(Na, na, na, na, na, na, na)
(One, two, Free Four)
(One, two, Free Four)
S'cusi, dov'è il bar? (What?) (gotta get on)
Se parakalo, pou einai to bar?
S'il vous plaît, où est le bar? (Say it in English, fairy)
Oi, where's the fucking bar John? (Oh, now you're talking)
(Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the day) (gotta get on, gotta get on)
Down (gotta get on)
Go, Maggie
(Gotta get on, gotta get on)
Hammer, Hammer, Hammer, Hammer, now
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by digitalmanMKII, Noubledigger
Not Now John Lyrics as written by George Roger Waters
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The John mentioned in the title is the person who is singing. He is the normal English worker abroad - he can work hard, earn cash and go out after the shift and get 'pissed' or skive, get drunk and act like a yob. The excahnge between Waters and Gilmour is the exchange going on within this person. Waters character wins the final lines in broken English are John's words.