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.
Everybody wants to be a showman
Yeah they all got another one
Everybody thinks they got a genius
Everybody got me on the run
Sometimes I think they come here
Just so you can say that you can
And I can't get alone in my bathroom
I need to give myself a hand
Ya'll c-c-c-creepin'
Creepin' underneath my skin
Fuck you and your flashbulbs
Snappin' my picture again
You drank all my whiskey
You stole all my smoke
And you're crowded all around me
Like I got nowhere to go
Eyes are gonna roll back
I'm here to kill time
For you to go I'ma gon' spill
It ain't yo fast train
I'll be the king running near the wheel
I ain't looking to make no deals here no
You keep sticking to me like a prickly porcupine
You're getting your information from the grocery checkout line
Are you through confessing of your little girl obsession
'Cause I was only messing and I had a little time
Eyes are gonna roll back
I'm here to kill time
For you to go I'ma gon' spill
It ain't yo fast train
I'll be the king running near the wheel
I ain't looking to make no deals here no
Eyes are gonna roll back
I'm here to kill time
For you to go I'm a gon' spill
It ain't yo fast train
I'll be the king running near the wheel
I ain't looking to make no deals here no
Eyes are gonna roll back
I'm here to kill time
For you to go I'ma gon' spill
It ain't yo fast train
I'll be the king running near the wheel
I ain't looking to make no deals here no
Yeah they all got another one
Everybody thinks they got a genius
Everybody got me on the run
Sometimes I think they come here
Just so you can say that you can
And I can't get alone in my bathroom
I need to give myself a hand
Ya'll c-c-c-creepin'
Creepin' underneath my skin
Fuck you and your flashbulbs
Snappin' my picture again
You drank all my whiskey
You stole all my smoke
And you're crowded all around me
Like I got nowhere to go
Eyes are gonna roll back
I'm here to kill time
For you to go I'ma gon' spill
It ain't yo fast train
I'll be the king running near the wheel
I ain't looking to make no deals here no
You keep sticking to me like a prickly porcupine
You're getting your information from the grocery checkout line
Are you through confessing of your little girl obsession
'Cause I was only messing and I had a little time
Eyes are gonna roll back
I'm here to kill time
For you to go I'ma gon' spill
It ain't yo fast train
I'll be the king running near the wheel
I ain't looking to make no deals here no
Eyes are gonna roll back
I'm here to kill time
For you to go I'm a gon' spill
It ain't yo fast train
I'll be the king running near the wheel
I ain't looking to make no deals here no
Eyes are gonna roll back
I'm here to kill time
For you to go I'ma gon' spill
It ain't yo fast train
I'll be the king running near the wheel
I ain't looking to make no deals here no
Lyrics submitted by laextasis, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Genius Lyrics as written by Ivan Nathan Followill Angelo T. Petraglia
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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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Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
This is my favorite Kings of Leon song. It's a pretty simple message I think, but for a while I didn't understand the line "you're gettin' your information from the grocery check-out line". Now I realize he's referring to people reading the tabloids on the racks when they're waiting in the check-out line. Obviously this isn't literal (or at least I don't think they were that popular during their 1st album).
I love this song so much. Whenever I'm mad I throw it on. It's good like that.
Also on a more interesting side-note: I think the "I can't get alone in my bathroom, I need to give myself a hand" lyric is referencing him trying to masturbate but being unable to due to certain assholes bugging him while he's in there. This thought only occurred to me when I watched on YouTube "Genius" live in Britain, when he made a lude gesture while singing that lyric. EXCELLENT!
Ive always thought that too bout the give myself a hand part!