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.
Hello, how ya doing?
what's it like to ruin all my self esteem?
let me blow off some steam
for five years I've waited, so why
am I jaded to get back at you?
what makes it cool?
when you act like nothing ever happened
I feel like I should feel bad,
but I can't like someone who thought
they're the only one that mattered,
I hope that you're flattered
cause you broke this down,
the best thing that you never had
and it seems like a loss somehow my
heart got lost on the way to my head
and my brain cells are dead, and the
craziness
shows, now I start to go when
the green turns to red and I should be
dead
when you act like nothing ever happened,
I feel like I should feel bad,
but I can't like someone who thought
they're the only one that mattered while
my heart got shattered like romantic roadkill
my heart is all splattered your ego got
fatter and I hope that you're flattered,
cause you broke this down,
you broke this down,
the best thing that you never had
like the toilet seat never got lifted
and I pissed on your confidence when you
weren't around, how can that be?
don't turn this around, you were the one
who drove my ass right to the ground
when you act like nothing ever happened
I feel like I should feel bad, and I can't like
someone who thought they're the only
one that mattered while my heart got
shattered like romantic roadkill my heart
is all splattered your ego got fatter and I
hope that you're flattered
cause you broke this down,
you broke this down,
the best thing, the best thing
the best thing that you never had
you never had...
what's it like to ruin all my self esteem?
let me blow off some steam
for five years I've waited, so why
am I jaded to get back at you?
what makes it cool?
when you act like nothing ever happened
I feel like I should feel bad,
but I can't like someone who thought
they're the only one that mattered,
I hope that you're flattered
cause you broke this down,
the best thing that you never had
and it seems like a loss somehow my
heart got lost on the way to my head
and my brain cells are dead, and the
craziness
shows, now I start to go when
the green turns to red and I should be
dead
when you act like nothing ever happened,
I feel like I should feel bad,
but I can't like someone who thought
they're the only one that mattered while
my heart got shattered like romantic roadkill
my heart is all splattered your ego got
fatter and I hope that you're flattered,
cause you broke this down,
you broke this down,
the best thing that you never had
like the toilet seat never got lifted
and I pissed on your confidence when you
weren't around, how can that be?
don't turn this around, you were the one
who drove my ass right to the ground
when you act like nothing ever happened
I feel like I should feel bad, and I can't like
someone who thought they're the only
one that mattered while my heart got
shattered like romantic roadkill my heart
is all splattered your ego got fatter and I
hope that you're flattered
cause you broke this down,
you broke this down,
the best thing, the best thing
the best thing that you never had
you never had...
Lyrics submitted by BlueAndStarry
Best Thing You Never Had Lyrics as written by Butch Walker
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Butch Walker is amazing, and i think this song is about him being rejected by a girl along time ago and now its coming back to haunt her. The first is my favorite.