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.
I had a brother once
He drowned in a bathtub
Before he had ever learned how to talk
And I don't know what his name was
But my mother does
I heard her say it once
Padriac, my prince, I've all but died
From the sheer weight of my shame
You cried but no one came
And the water filled your tiny lungs
Appear, my dear, and cry for me
It was six years ago today
That I laid you in your grave
Your sweet young skin was shining then too
And so tonight to celebrate, I will, I will poison myself
Another coughing, shaking fit in a bathroom that is spinning
So I close the door and rest my head on the tile floor
Sickness and sleep turning me cold
I'm still not sure
Is there some better place I should be heading towards?
Where the selfishly sick and self absorbed are welcome
I saw the future once
I was drunk in a phone booth
My eyes were wet and red
But I could not tell what was said
And through the screams of the traffic
Voiced carried, saying, "Im sorry"
On a day so gray it's black inside
Watching churches on TV
In a coma you don't dream
You just hope that someone sits with you
Babies turn blue when they're ignored
Like the sky on summer days
Before you turn and walk away
It has changed you
So tonight to compensate, I will, I will poison myself
Another coughing, shaking fit in a bathroom that is spinning
He drowned in a bathtub
Before he had ever learned how to talk
And I don't know what his name was
But my mother does
I heard her say it once
Padriac, my prince, I've all but died
From the sheer weight of my shame
You cried but no one came
And the water filled your tiny lungs
Appear, my dear, and cry for me
It was six years ago today
That I laid you in your grave
Your sweet young skin was shining then too
And so tonight to celebrate, I will, I will poison myself
Another coughing, shaking fit in a bathroom that is spinning
So I close the door and rest my head on the tile floor
Sickness and sleep turning me cold
I'm still not sure
Is there some better place I should be heading towards?
Where the selfishly sick and self absorbed are welcome
I saw the future once
I was drunk in a phone booth
My eyes were wet and red
But I could not tell what was said
And through the screams of the traffic
Voiced carried, saying, "Im sorry"
On a day so gray it's black inside
Watching churches on TV
In a coma you don't dream
You just hope that someone sits with you
Babies turn blue when they're ignored
Like the sky on summer days
Before you turn and walk away
It has changed you
So tonight to compensate, I will, I will poison myself
Another coughing, shaking fit in a bathroom that is spinning
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