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.
We escape from the house
As the day disappears from the sky
Into night
We became what we wanted to be
Like a dream or a ghost
I collapse out of turn
Near a house
Lying still in the grass and felt the heat from the ground
Rising up to contract and expand like a breath
We escape from that place
Soaked with sweat and the poison we drank
Fill the bathtub with ice and hope this fever will break
Like a heart
Easily
But I do not recall all the words that were formed
On those wire lips as they greeted me
A promise was made without though as the temperature climbed
And I started to sink like the moon
Tends to do if you stare at it too long
Then you blink and it's gone
And we crawl to our sleep with the dawn
I awake in the light feeling hollow and selfishly warm
Close the blinds and retreat until what is burning is gone
And its light is away
Then we are back in the dark
Chasing nothing through backyards and trees
You ripped your shirt on a fence but it didn't get me
Yeah, it's fear
It makes you so low
And these creatures look crooked
Their shadows cut lines through my face
And the concrete is fire
Where my bare feet are placed
In a line next to yours
And I guess I'm not sure if it was fear that was born
As those awful eyes made their claim on us
I put my hands on the fence
Said your name
And I started to climb
And it must have been sweat but I drank it like wine
It was sweet and my mouth was dry
I heard you scream but I made no reply
I can still taste it now if I try
As the day disappears from the sky
Into night
We became what we wanted to be
Like a dream or a ghost
I collapse out of turn
Near a house
Lying still in the grass and felt the heat from the ground
Rising up to contract and expand like a breath
We escape from that place
Soaked with sweat and the poison we drank
Fill the bathtub with ice and hope this fever will break
Like a heart
Easily
But I do not recall all the words that were formed
On those wire lips as they greeted me
A promise was made without though as the temperature climbed
And I started to sink like the moon
Tends to do if you stare at it too long
Then you blink and it's gone
And we crawl to our sleep with the dawn
I awake in the light feeling hollow and selfishly warm
Close the blinds and retreat until what is burning is gone
And its light is away
Then we are back in the dark
Chasing nothing through backyards and trees
You ripped your shirt on a fence but it didn't get me
Yeah, it's fear
It makes you so low
And these creatures look crooked
Their shadows cut lines through my face
And the concrete is fire
Where my bare feet are placed
In a line next to yours
And I guess I'm not sure if it was fear that was born
As those awful eyes made their claim on us
I put my hands on the fence
Said your name
And I started to climb
And it must have been sweat but I drank it like wine
It was sweet and my mouth was dry
I heard you scream but I made no reply
I can still taste it now if I try
Lyrics submitted by PLANES
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these are perhaps one of my favorite lyrical songs from conor. it's saddening that the only version i can find is scratch and low-quality ... i would really like to see him touch this up musically because it has the potential of being one of his best songs.