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.
Good bad, Saturn makes your mind break in pieces
Good bad, so you cannot find the dimensions
and it will be around these spots that I've given to you
you will know that you'll greet my vapours every time that you pass through this room
pass through this room
walk through my gloom
Daphne you find me
Daphne, when you find me let the blood drive and come alive with me Daphne, symmetry you can't help but admire or rejoice from this
sister be bad, Saturn makes your mind break in pieces
Good bad, so you cannot find the conventions
it will be around these spots that I've given to you
you will know that you'll greet my vapours every time that you pass through this room
pass through this room
walk through my gloom
Daphne you find me
Daphne you find me to put you were inside you fight for my memory Daphne symmetry you can't help but admire or rejoice for this, seems to be
Daphne come as on display will you find a way to draw the curtains of damp around your blushing ambition
blushing ambition...
I found you inside my mind
I lost you inside my mind
I found you inside my mind
I lost you inside my mind
I was a child I was a vice a coyote, conditions occasions facts
I was a child I was a vice a coyote, conditions occasions facts
erase them all perhaps
erase them all
erase them all perhaps
my own thing, my own thing
now you're all that I have here
now we can't remember
but you could fall back on lust when you've learnt to wait
they can be like the friends and neighbours you will get to appreciate them
I have inside me some strange glow
still enjoying this that's why I made a mess
still enjoying this that's why I made a mess
that's why I made a mess
Good bad, so you cannot find the dimensions
and it will be around these spots that I've given to you
you will know that you'll greet my vapours every time that you pass through this room
pass through this room
walk through my gloom
Daphne you find me
Daphne, when you find me let the blood drive and come alive with me Daphne, symmetry you can't help but admire or rejoice from this
sister be bad, Saturn makes your mind break in pieces
Good bad, so you cannot find the conventions
it will be around these spots that I've given to you
you will know that you'll greet my vapours every time that you pass through this room
pass through this room
walk through my gloom
Daphne you find me
Daphne you find me to put you were inside you fight for my memory Daphne symmetry you can't help but admire or rejoice for this, seems to be
Daphne come as on display will you find a way to draw the curtains of damp around your blushing ambition
blushing ambition...
I found you inside my mind
I lost you inside my mind
I found you inside my mind
I lost you inside my mind
I was a child I was a vice a coyote, conditions occasions facts
I was a child I was a vice a coyote, conditions occasions facts
erase them all perhaps
erase them all
erase them all perhaps
my own thing, my own thing
now you're all that I have here
now we can't remember
but you could fall back on lust when you've learnt to wait
they can be like the friends and neighbours you will get to appreciate them
I have inside me some strange glow
still enjoying this that's why I made a mess
still enjoying this that's why I made a mess
that's why I made a mess
Lyrics submitted by saturnine
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
I got this one.
Paul is disclosing his guilt. This is a confession that the first half of the band's career was a joy ride.
He's telling us they've been bad, Saturn is the great god chronos, the god that ate his children to keep his power, the uncaring devil that loves himself above all, it is evidently our god, at this time in history; and he's telling us it's the world that breaks a man's resolve. What was their resolve? To help us see the dimensions (the different points of view in life). He's confessing they made an effort to keep us in the cage, being pressured by saturn. But they laid down some clues, not all their songs were misleading. He describes how you will feel when you get to that state of mind, walking through his gloom, through this room, is referring to that flow state of consciousness, where one can create and realize true purpose through knowing. Many creatives know, but they struggle daily to put the reality of 'the one way' into their arts. Daphne is his soul, the heart within the mind, the subconscious 'I' that rules, he cries out to that pure state of mind where left and right meet, the middle path, the cross or as he calls it, the symmetry. The blood allegory talks about the two laws of this realm, law of water and law of blood. He goes on to say he used to be a coyote, a creature infamous for eating babies... he was becoming this selfish destroyer of the children (ignorant, feeble minded). He is trying to take a better path but he's still a sinner (thats why he made a mess). He does tell us though, once we get to the middle path we learn no to hate ourselves for slipups and error, we get to appreciating our own inner devils as neighbours, because truth is we need always need something from them, they're the last safety net. The abusive teacher.
It's a beautiful song because it comprehends such a wide view of fame and duty.