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.
I am waitin' 'til I don't know when
'Cause I'm sure it's gonna happen then
Time keeps creepin' through the neighborhood
Killing old folks, wakin' up babies
Just like we knew it would
All the neighbors are startin' up a fire
Burning all the old folks the witches and the liars
My eyes are covered by the hands of my unborn kids
But my heart keeps watchin'
Through the skin of my eyelids
They say a watched pot won't ever boil
Well I closed my eyes and nothin' changed
Just some water getting hotter in the flames
It's not a lover I want no more
And it's not heaven I'm pining for
But there's some spirit I used to know
That's been drowned out by the radio
They say a watched pot won't ever boil
You can't raise a baby on motor oil
Just like a seed down in the soil
You gotta give it time
'Cause I'm sure it's gonna happen then
Time keeps creepin' through the neighborhood
Killing old folks, wakin' up babies
Just like we knew it would
All the neighbors are startin' up a fire
Burning all the old folks the witches and the liars
My eyes are covered by the hands of my unborn kids
But my heart keeps watchin'
Through the skin of my eyelids
They say a watched pot won't ever boil
Well I closed my eyes and nothin' changed
Just some water getting hotter in the flames
It's not a lover I want no more
And it's not heaven I'm pining for
But there's some spirit I used to know
That's been drowned out by the radio
They say a watched pot won't ever boil
You can't raise a baby on motor oil
Just like a seed down in the soil
You gotta give it time
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There was a special on AF one time where an interviewee compared listening to Funeral to walking through a series of fairy tales. After that the album made more sense. Since it's about childhood in the first place, I love the interpretation. Anyway, I see this as happening after the "power out" of Neighborhood 3. It's the sorrow of an old man sitting on a porch. Like all porch-sitting old men, he is misunderstood by his neighbors. He is willing to talk about all the things he's experienced, but nobody wants to listen. AF drew from his perspective about what's wrong with the world today. All the futility (I closed my eyes and nothing changed), regret (my unborn kids) and sad acceptance that the older part of today's population feels is in this song. At least, that's how I like to think about it.