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.
She says she's read too many fashion magazine
She's forgotten what real love is like
And as the basement collects more kids off the street
They smoke themselves to death waiting for the band to begin
They have been tuning up there for an hour now
And I don't think I can stand another minute more
But just then the first chord strums
And the drums set in
And I know what I have been waiting around for
Because no one's going home until the morning comes
No one's going to sleep until the sun comes up
Did you hear those first two songs?
They were fucking touch
And the band is not going to stop until the cops show up
So hold your applause until the end
And wait for the sadness to set in
Because that's the only feeling that's worth it
He say he's done with the pop music scene
There's too many opinions and so few are worth a shit
He has got to learn to act a little more mean
Because the mean ones always end up with the record deals
And it is only when I'm angry that I feel complete
When we are screaming at each other is when I am most happy
I hang out with my friends and then I get depressed
And I drink myself to sleep with any strength that is left
And I quit going to church a year ago
And my teachers think that my faith is gone
But I can do with the eucharist because I found god
In a solid Jackson song
She's forgotten what real love is like
And as the basement collects more kids off the street
They smoke themselves to death waiting for the band to begin
They have been tuning up there for an hour now
And I don't think I can stand another minute more
But just then the first chord strums
And the drums set in
And I know what I have been waiting around for
Because no one's going home until the morning comes
No one's going to sleep until the sun comes up
Did you hear those first two songs?
They were fucking touch
And the band is not going to stop until the cops show up
So hold your applause until the end
And wait for the sadness to set in
Because that's the only feeling that's worth it
He say he's done with the pop music scene
There's too many opinions and so few are worth a shit
He has got to learn to act a little more mean
Because the mean ones always end up with the record deals
And it is only when I'm angry that I feel complete
When we are screaming at each other is when I am most happy
I hang out with my friends and then I get depressed
And I drink myself to sleep with any strength that is left
And I quit going to church a year ago
And my teachers think that my faith is gone
But I can do with the eucharist because I found god
In a solid Jackson song
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solid jackson was a band. and apparantly simon joyner was somehow involved, which if you don't know, is a songwriter conor is a fan of and came up with the original "yellow bird" idea.