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.
When all my demons set their sails
and my mind is riding the last train
Down a one-way track to the final station
Destination Devastation
A thousand demons at my door
screaming at my crumbling walls
My river's bleeding, my fields are burning
My world has stopped turning
I will be your lithium
and I'll be your lover
Give me something for my mind
something for the pain inside
A remedy, a cure for life
An elixir for this manica of mine
Give me what I'm deep in need of
a sanctuary beyond this cruel world
A peerless cure-all to recover
Like lithium and a lover...
and my mind is riding the last train
Down a one-way track to the final station
Destination Devastation
A thousand demons at my door
screaming at my crumbling walls
My river's bleeding, my fields are burning
My world has stopped turning
I will be your lithium
and I'll be your lover
Give me something for my mind
something for the pain inside
A remedy, a cure for life
An elixir for this manica of mine
Give me what I'm deep in need of
a sanctuary beyond this cruel world
A peerless cure-all to recover
Like lithium and a lover...
Lyrics submitted by user725371
Lithium and a Lover Lyrics as written by Morten Veland
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Lithium is indeed used like a drug to treat mainly bipolar disorder. It is an antipsychotic and a mood stabilizer with some antidepressant effects. If someone with major depressive disorder (or unipolar, if you like) isn't responding well to an antidepressant, lithium will sometimes be prescribed along with it to see if it will help the AD work before switching to a different drug.
Afaik lithium is not abusable. People on lithium need to get their levels checked regularly, as lithium toxicity is NOT fun. It also has some rather nasty side effects.
I find the "lithium and a lover" phrase rather silly tbh. Neither will cure the world, or even someone's subjective world (unless they fool themselves into thinking that another mortal has superhuman powers). Mood stabilizers can, however, bring relief to someone suffering from certain mood disorders, but it has to be the right drug for the right individual. Anyone who's been on the med-go-round knows what I'm talking about.
I rather like this song because I remember being there, when I was certain I was doomed to the living hell that was my dysfunctional brain until I commited suicide. It's pure desperation to escape from one's own mind.