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.
Cross the street from your storefront cemetery.
Hear me hailing from inside and realize
I am the conscience clear
In pain or ecstacy
And we're all weaned my dear
Upon the same fatigue
We're staring at the sun
Oh my own voice
Cannot save me now
Standing in the sea
It's just
One more breath
And then
I'll go down
Your mouth is open wide
The lover is inside
And the tumult's done
Collided with the sign
You're staring at the sun
You're standing in the sea
Your body's over me
Note the trees because the
Dirt is temporary
More to mine than fact, face,
Name, and monetary
Beat the skins and let the
Loose lips kiss you clean
Quietly pour out like light
Like light, like answering (chorus comes over this part) the sun
You're staring at the sun
You're standing in the sea
Your mouth is open wide
You're trying hard to breath
The water's at your neck
There's lightning in your teeth
Your body's over me
Be what you will
And then throw down your life
Oh it's a damned fine game
And we can play all night
You're staring at the sun
You're standing in the sea
Your mouth is open wide
You're trying hard to breath
The water's at your neck
There's lightning in your teeth
Your body's over me
You're staring at the sun
You're standing in the sea
You're staring at the sun
You're standing in the sea
Hear me hailing from inside and realize
I am the conscience clear
In pain or ecstacy
And we're all weaned my dear
Upon the same fatigue
We're staring at the sun
Oh my own voice
Cannot save me now
Standing in the sea
It's just
One more breath
And then
I'll go down
Your mouth is open wide
The lover is inside
And the tumult's done
Collided with the sign
You're staring at the sun
You're standing in the sea
Your body's over me
Note the trees because the
Dirt is temporary
More to mine than fact, face,
Name, and monetary
Beat the skins and let the
Loose lips kiss you clean
Quietly pour out like light
Like light, like answering (chorus comes over this part) the sun
You're staring at the sun
You're standing in the sea
Your mouth is open wide
You're trying hard to breath
The water's at your neck
There's lightning in your teeth
Your body's over me
Be what you will
And then throw down your life
Oh it's a damned fine game
And we can play all night
You're staring at the sun
You're standing in the sea
Your mouth is open wide
You're trying hard to breath
The water's at your neck
There's lightning in your teeth
Your body's over me
You're staring at the sun
You're standing in the sea
You're staring at the sun
You're standing in the sea
Lyrics submitted by insulatedsoul
Staring At the Sun Lyrics as written by David Andrew Sitek Babatunde Omoroga Adebimpe
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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that's exactly how i feel. this song tries to paint a picture of the ecstatic feeling that occurs when you leave the temporary perception of the physical world and become the "conscious clear."
at first it does seem to cheapen the song since it's derived from that poem, but tv on the radio takes it an essential step further by giving a name to that which is answered, 'the sun.' this echoes hindu beliefs, where the upanishads say that those who have reached the state of pure consciousness realize they are both themselves and the sun at the same time.
in other words, the song's about existing as/in/through God, which can only happen permanently through death, although we can catch glimpses of it during our human lives such as during orgasm, hence the possible sexual imagery.