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.
Unos, dos, tres, catorce
Turn it up loud, captain
Lights go down, it's dark
The jungle is your head, can't rule your heart
A feeling's so much stronger than a thought
Your eyes are wide and though your soul, it can't be bought
Your mind can wander
Hello, hello (hola)
I'm at a place called Vertigo (¿dónde está?)
It's everything I wish I didn't know
Except you give me something
I can feel, feel
The night is full of holes
'Cause bullets rip the sky of ink with gold
They twinkle as the boys play rock and roll
They know that they can't dance, at least they know
I can't stand the beat, I'm asking for the check
Girl with crimson nails has Jesus around her neck
Swinging to the music, swinging to the music (whoa, whoa)
(Whoa, whoa, whoa)
Hello, hello (hola)
I'm at a place called Vertigo (¿dónde está?)
It's everything I wish I didn't know
But you give me something
I can feel, feel
Checkmated
Just fun
She made it in, yeah
All of this, all of this can be yours
All of this, all of this can be yours
All of this, all of this can be yours
Just give me what I want and no one gets hurt
Hello, hello (hola)
We're at a place called Vertigo (¿dónde está?)
Lights go down, and all I know
Is that you give me something
I can feel your love teaching me how
Your love is teaching me how
How to kneel
Kneel
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Turn it up loud, captain
Lights go down, it's dark
The jungle is your head, can't rule your heart
A feeling's so much stronger than a thought
Your eyes are wide and though your soul, it can't be bought
Your mind can wander
Hello, hello (hola)
I'm at a place called Vertigo (¿dónde está?)
It's everything I wish I didn't know
Except you give me something
I can feel, feel
The night is full of holes
'Cause bullets rip the sky of ink with gold
They twinkle as the boys play rock and roll
They know that they can't dance, at least they know
I can't stand the beat, I'm asking for the check
Girl with crimson nails has Jesus around her neck
Swinging to the music, swinging to the music (whoa, whoa)
(Whoa, whoa, whoa)
Hello, hello (hola)
I'm at a place called Vertigo (¿dónde está?)
It's everything I wish I didn't know
But you give me something
I can feel, feel
Checkmated
Just fun
She made it in, yeah
All of this, all of this can be yours
All of this, all of this can be yours
All of this, all of this can be yours
Just give me what I want and no one gets hurt
Hello, hello (hola)
We're at a place called Vertigo (¿dónde está?)
Lights go down, and all I know
Is that you give me something
I can feel your love teaching me how
Your love is teaching me how
How to kneel
Kneel
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
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FENtastic interpretation! ;) I also created an account to post a reply to this. Very well considered and done from the same standpoint as the author(s), no doubt. I agree and bear witness to the reality of this in my own life. This is why U2 songs keep me inspired, thinking, pondering, evaluating, even praying. God knows which instruments to use in the lives of his children. Music is chief in mine and Bono has served well.
Thanks fen. God bless you. :)