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.
The boy was in the hallway drinking a glass of tea (a glass of tea)
From the other end of the hallway a rhythm was generating
Another boy was sliding up the hallway (his gold nerves merged perfectly with the hallway)
He merged perfectly with the hallway (A radiant light, an aura around the mirror)
He merged perfectly (merged and looked at Johnny)
The mirror in the hallway (fastened, in the kitchen)
The boy looked at Johnny, Johnny wanted to run
But the movie kept moving as planned (Johnny wanted to run but the movie kept moving as planned)
The boy took Johnny, he pushed him against the locker (the boy took Johnny, he pushed him against the locker)
He drove it in, he drove it home, he drove it deep in Johnny (he drove it in, he drove it home)
The boy disappeared, Johnny fell on his knees
Started crashing his head against the locker
Started crashing his head against the locker
Started laughing hysterically
When suddenly Johnny gets the feeling he's being surrounded by
Horses, horses, horses, horses
Coming in in all directions
White shining silver studs with their nose in flames
He saw horses, horses, horses, horses, horses, horses, horses, horses
Do you know how to pony like Bony Maroney?
Do you know how to twist? Well, it goes like this, it goes like this
Baby mash potato
Do the alligator, do the alligator
And you twist the twister like your baby sister
I want your baby sister, give me your baby sister, I dig your baby sister
Rise up on her knees
Do the sweet pea, do the sweet pee-pee
Roll down on her back
Got to lose control, got to lose control
Got to lose control and then you take control
Then you're rolled down on your back
And you like it like that, like it like that
Like it like that, like it like that
Then you do the Watusi, yeah, do the Watusi
Life is filled with holes
Johnny's laying there in his sperm coffin
Angel looks down at him and says
"Oh, pretty boy, can't you show me nothing but surrender?"
And Johnny gets up, takes off his leather jacket
Taped to his chest there's the answer
He got pen knives and jack knives and
Switchblades preferred, switchblades preferred
Then he cries, then he screams, saying
"Life is full of pain, I'm cruisin' through my brain"
And I fill my nose with snow and go Rimbaud
Go Rimbaud, go Rimbaud, and go Johnny go
And do the Watusi, oh, do the Watusi
There's a little place, a place called space
It's a pretty little place, it's across the tracks, across the tracks
And the name of the place is
You like it like that, you like it like that
You like it like that, you like it like that
And the name of the band is
Twistelettes, Twistelettes, Twistelettes, Twistelettes
Twistelettes, Twistelettes, Twistelettes, Twistelettes
Baby, calm down, better calm down
On the night, in the eye of the forest
There's a mare black and shining with yellow hair
I put my fingers through her silken hair and found a stair
And I don't waste time, I just walked right up
And saw that up there, there is a sea (he's always staring)
Up there, there is a sea
Up there, there is a sea
The sea's the possibility (and in to time, he walked right up)
There is no land but the land (up there is just a sea of possibilities)
There is no sea but the sea (up there is a wall of possibilities)
There is no keeper but the key (up there there are several walls of possibilities)
Except for one who seizes possibilities
One who seizes possibilities (up there, there are several walls)
Seizes possibilities (possibilities up there)
Oh, I seize the first possibility, is the sea around me (there is a wall)
I was standing there with my legs spread like a sailor (possibilities out there)
I felt his hand on my knee (there is a sea)
(On the screen)
And I looked at Johnny and handed him a branch of cold flame
(In the heart of man)
The waves were coming in like Arabian stallions
Gradually lapping into sea horses
He picked up the blade and he pressed it against his smooth throat (the spoon)
And let it dip in (the veins)
Dip in to the sea, to the sea of possibilities (it started hardening)
Dip in to the sea (it started hardening in my hand)
To the sea of possibilities (and I felt the arrows of desire)
I put my hand inside his cranium,
Oh, we had such a Brainiac-amour
But no more, no more, I gotta move from my mind to the area (go Rimbaud, go Rimbaud)
And go, Johnny go and do the Watusi
Yeah, do the Watusi, do the Watusi
Shined open coiled snakes white and shiny twirling and encircling
Our lives are now entwined, we will fall
Yes, we're together twining
Your nerves, your mane of the black shining horse
And my fingers all entwined through the air
I could feel it, it was the hair going through my fingers (I feel it, I feel it, I feel it, I feel it)
The hairs were like wires going through my body (I feel it, I feel it, I feel it, I feel it)
I, I, that's how I
That's how I, I died
(At that tower of Babel, they knew what they were after, they knew what they were after)
Everything on the current moved up
I tried to stop it, but it was too warm, too unbelievably smooth (no possibility)
Like playing in the sea, in the sea of possibility (no possibility, no possibility)
The possibility was a blade, a shiny blade
I hold the key to the sea of possibilities
There's no land but the land
Looked at my hands, and there's a red stream
That went streaming through the sands like fingers
Like arteries, like fingers (how much fits between the eyes of a horse?)
He lay, pressing it against his throat (your eyes)
He opened his throat (your eyes)
His vocal chords started shooting like (of a horse) mad pituitary glands
The scream he made (and my heart) was so high
(My heart) pitched that nobody heard
No one heard that cry
No one heard (Johnny) the butterfly flapping in his throat
Nobody heard (his fingers)
He was on that bed, it was like a sea of jelly
And so he seized the first (his vocal chords shot up)
The closest possibility (like mad pituitary glands)
It was a black tube, he felt himself disintegrate (there is nothing happening at all)
And go inside the black tube, so when he looked out into the steep
Saw this sweet young thing (fender one)
Humping on the parking meter, leaning on the parking meter
In the sheets, there was a man
Dancing around to the simple
Rock and roll song
From the other end of the hallway a rhythm was generating
Another boy was sliding up the hallway (his gold nerves merged perfectly with the hallway)
He merged perfectly with the hallway (A radiant light, an aura around the mirror)
He merged perfectly (merged and looked at Johnny)
The mirror in the hallway (fastened, in the kitchen)
The boy looked at Johnny, Johnny wanted to run
But the movie kept moving as planned (Johnny wanted to run but the movie kept moving as planned)
The boy took Johnny, he pushed him against the locker (the boy took Johnny, he pushed him against the locker)
He drove it in, he drove it home, he drove it deep in Johnny (he drove it in, he drove it home)
The boy disappeared, Johnny fell on his knees
Started crashing his head against the locker
Started crashing his head against the locker
Started laughing hysterically
When suddenly Johnny gets the feeling he's being surrounded by
Horses, horses, horses, horses
Coming in in all directions
White shining silver studs with their nose in flames
He saw horses, horses, horses, horses, horses, horses, horses, horses
Do you know how to pony like Bony Maroney?
Do you know how to twist? Well, it goes like this, it goes like this
Baby mash potato
Do the alligator, do the alligator
And you twist the twister like your baby sister
I want your baby sister, give me your baby sister, I dig your baby sister
Rise up on her knees
Do the sweet pea, do the sweet pee-pee
Roll down on her back
Got to lose control, got to lose control
Got to lose control and then you take control
Then you're rolled down on your back
And you like it like that, like it like that
Like it like that, like it like that
Then you do the Watusi, yeah, do the Watusi
Life is filled with holes
Johnny's laying there in his sperm coffin
Angel looks down at him and says
"Oh, pretty boy, can't you show me nothing but surrender?"
And Johnny gets up, takes off his leather jacket
Taped to his chest there's the answer
He got pen knives and jack knives and
Switchblades preferred, switchblades preferred
Then he cries, then he screams, saying
"Life is full of pain, I'm cruisin' through my brain"
And I fill my nose with snow and go Rimbaud
Go Rimbaud, go Rimbaud, and go Johnny go
And do the Watusi, oh, do the Watusi
There's a little place, a place called space
It's a pretty little place, it's across the tracks, across the tracks
And the name of the place is
You like it like that, you like it like that
You like it like that, you like it like that
And the name of the band is
Twistelettes, Twistelettes, Twistelettes, Twistelettes
Twistelettes, Twistelettes, Twistelettes, Twistelettes
Baby, calm down, better calm down
On the night, in the eye of the forest
There's a mare black and shining with yellow hair
I put my fingers through her silken hair and found a stair
And I don't waste time, I just walked right up
And saw that up there, there is a sea (he's always staring)
Up there, there is a sea
Up there, there is a sea
The sea's the possibility (and in to time, he walked right up)
There is no land but the land (up there is just a sea of possibilities)
There is no sea but the sea (up there is a wall of possibilities)
There is no keeper but the key (up there there are several walls of possibilities)
Except for one who seizes possibilities
One who seizes possibilities (up there, there are several walls)
Seizes possibilities (possibilities up there)
Oh, I seize the first possibility, is the sea around me (there is a wall)
I was standing there with my legs spread like a sailor (possibilities out there)
I felt his hand on my knee (there is a sea)
(On the screen)
And I looked at Johnny and handed him a branch of cold flame
(In the heart of man)
The waves were coming in like Arabian stallions
Gradually lapping into sea horses
He picked up the blade and he pressed it against his smooth throat (the spoon)
And let it dip in (the veins)
Dip in to the sea, to the sea of possibilities (it started hardening)
Dip in to the sea (it started hardening in my hand)
To the sea of possibilities (and I felt the arrows of desire)
I put my hand inside his cranium,
Oh, we had such a Brainiac-amour
But no more, no more, I gotta move from my mind to the area (go Rimbaud, go Rimbaud)
And go, Johnny go and do the Watusi
Yeah, do the Watusi, do the Watusi
Shined open coiled snakes white and shiny twirling and encircling
Our lives are now entwined, we will fall
Yes, we're together twining
Your nerves, your mane of the black shining horse
And my fingers all entwined through the air
I could feel it, it was the hair going through my fingers (I feel it, I feel it, I feel it, I feel it)
The hairs were like wires going through my body (I feel it, I feel it, I feel it, I feel it)
I, I, that's how I
That's how I, I died
(At that tower of Babel, they knew what they were after, they knew what they were after)
Everything on the current moved up
I tried to stop it, but it was too warm, too unbelievably smooth (no possibility)
Like playing in the sea, in the sea of possibility (no possibility, no possibility)
The possibility was a blade, a shiny blade
I hold the key to the sea of possibilities
There's no land but the land
Looked at my hands, and there's a red stream
That went streaming through the sands like fingers
Like arteries, like fingers (how much fits between the eyes of a horse?)
He lay, pressing it against his throat (your eyes)
He opened his throat (your eyes)
His vocal chords started shooting like (of a horse) mad pituitary glands
The scream he made (and my heart) was so high
(My heart) pitched that nobody heard
No one heard that cry
No one heard (Johnny) the butterfly flapping in his throat
Nobody heard (his fingers)
He was on that bed, it was like a sea of jelly
And so he seized the first (his vocal chords shot up)
The closest possibility (like mad pituitary glands)
It was a black tube, he felt himself disintegrate (there is nothing happening at all)
And go inside the black tube, so when he looked out into the steep
Saw this sweet young thing (fender one)
Humping on the parking meter, leaning on the parking meter
In the sheets, there was a man
Dancing around to the simple
Rock and roll song
Lyrics submitted by spazticfreak
Land: Horses / Land of a Thousand Dances / La Mer(de) Lyrics as written by Patricia Smith
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I always thought that this was a story of suicide, sex, drugs and possibilities. When i first heard it i thought 'well that's ten minutes of my life well spent!' It really does tell a gripping, poetic story. I think jonny slits his throat...he presses the knife to his smooth throat and lets it 'dip in'. But i think she's also made the connection between sex and suicide because while she is describing this violent action of Jonny, she's saying 'It started hardening in my hand and i felt the arrows of desire...' Surely she's talking about the feeling of drowining in a sea of possibilities during such a sexual experience...but does it feel like suicide to him? I think that the completly irrelevent jibberish of 'do the watusi' and 'the name of the band is twistellets....' just causes confusion and demonstrates the insane feeling of losing yourself in music. This song is wild. It IS rock and roll....it's about embracing possibilities and taking chances. ...well, to me anyway!
xxx