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.
(Alright)
"So long everything" he shouted
Then he ran next door to Margot's house (Margot's)
"I'm moving" he said
"Where?" asked Margot
"Two weeks away"
"Two weeks away?" He said
"Mitchell, where is that?" Asked Margot (Mitchell)
"It's everywhere, I will be after I walk for two weeks" said Mitchell
"I have lived in the same place for a long time
It is time for me to go someplace, east"
"Else"
"No, " said Margot, "You have only lived next door for fifty years"
"Sixty, " said Mitchell
"Fifty, sixty. What's the difference?" Said Margot (what's the difference)
"I want you to stay next door forever"
"I can't, " said Mitchell"
"I do not want to go wake up in the same old bed "
"And eat breakfast in the same old kitchen
Every room in my house is the same old room, because I have lived there too long"
You turn on a spindle
You're so much looser now
But you're not explaining how
You gained such new repose
I touch the clasp of your locket
With its picture held
Some secret you wouldn't tell
But let it choke your neck
So we imagine a darkness
Where all shapes divide
Solids changing into light
With a burst of heat so bright
Well fine, don't you do what I want you to
Don't degrade yourself the way I do
Because you don't depend upon all the shit that I use
To make my moods improve
"And you look at me and think, same old face, same old tail
Same old scales, same old walk, same old talk" said Margot
"No, " said Mitchell, "I like your face, tail
Scales, walk and talk. I like you"
"I like, like, like you too, " said Mitchell
He walked through the door
"I must pack" he said
Near a sea of pianos
There were waves of chords
That crashed against the shore
In one huge and useless roar
And there were girls bringing water
Like a dream they came
To cool the fever of my brain
And soothe my burning throat
And they made me a necklace
Hanging beads of sweat
On a string of my regrets
And they placed it 'round my neck
And they were singing
"Don't you do what you've wanted to"
"Yeah, don't destroy yourself
Like those cowards do"
"Maybe the sun keeps coming up
Because it has gotten used to you
And your constant need for proof"
"So long everything" he shouted
Then he ran next door to Margot's house (Margot's)
"I'm moving" he said
"Where?" asked Margot
"Two weeks away"
"Two weeks away?" He said
"Mitchell, where is that?" Asked Margot (Mitchell)
"It's everywhere, I will be after I walk for two weeks" said Mitchell
"I have lived in the same place for a long time
It is time for me to go someplace, east"
"Else"
"No, " said Margot, "You have only lived next door for fifty years"
"Sixty, " said Mitchell
"Fifty, sixty. What's the difference?" Said Margot (what's the difference)
"I want you to stay next door forever"
"I can't, " said Mitchell"
"I do not want to go wake up in the same old bed "
"And eat breakfast in the same old kitchen
Every room in my house is the same old room, because I have lived there too long"
You turn on a spindle
You're so much looser now
But you're not explaining how
You gained such new repose
I touch the clasp of your locket
With its picture held
Some secret you wouldn't tell
But let it choke your neck
So we imagine a darkness
Where all shapes divide
Solids changing into light
With a burst of heat so bright
Well fine, don't you do what I want you to
Don't degrade yourself the way I do
Because you don't depend upon all the shit that I use
To make my moods improve
"And you look at me and think, same old face, same old tail
Same old scales, same old walk, same old talk" said Margot
"No, " said Mitchell, "I like your face, tail
Scales, walk and talk. I like you"
"I like, like, like you too, " said Mitchell
He walked through the door
"I must pack" he said
Near a sea of pianos
There were waves of chords
That crashed against the shore
In one huge and useless roar
And there were girls bringing water
Like a dream they came
To cool the fever of my brain
And soothe my burning throat
And they made me a necklace
Hanging beads of sweat
On a string of my regrets
And they placed it 'round my neck
And they were singing
"Don't you do what you've wanted to"
"Yeah, don't destroy yourself
Like those cowards do"
"Maybe the sun keeps coming up
Because it has gotten used to you
And your constant need for proof"
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