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 clouds started forming at five o'clock pm
The funnel clouds touched down
Five miles north of Russellville
Sirens were blowing, clouds spat rain
And as the things came threw, it sounded like a train
"It came without no warning" said Bobbi Jo McLean
She and husband Nolen always loved to watch the rain
It sucked him out the window, he ain't come home again
All she can remember is "It sounded like a train"
Pieces of that truck stop, litter up the highway, I been told
And I hear that missing trucker ended up in Kansas
(or maybe it was Oz).
The Nightmare Tour ended for my band and me
The night all the shit went down
A homecoming concert, the night the tornadoes hit my hometown.
The few who braved the weather were sucked out of the auditorium
I can still remember the sound of their applause in the rain
As it echoed through them storm clouds, I swear, It sounded like a train.
The funnel clouds touched down
Five miles north of Russellville
Sirens were blowing, clouds spat rain
And as the things came threw, it sounded like a train
"It came without no warning" said Bobbi Jo McLean
She and husband Nolen always loved to watch the rain
It sucked him out the window, he ain't come home again
All she can remember is "It sounded like a train"
Pieces of that truck stop, litter up the highway, I been told
And I hear that missing trucker ended up in Kansas
(or maybe it was Oz).
The Nightmare Tour ended for my band and me
The night all the shit went down
A homecoming concert, the night the tornadoes hit my hometown.
The few who braved the weather were sucked out of the auditorium
I can still remember the sound of their applause in the rain
As it echoed through them storm clouds, I swear, It sounded like a train.
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Ave Grave
Thee More Shallows
Thee More Shallows
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
I'm going to document everything about that day that I remember because I'm already getting older. I wasn't a hero just one of the normal people in Tuscaloosa that day.
I was writing a paper. I smoked some weed to make myself paranoid so when I read my writing it would look like someone else's.
The sirens had been going off but we were all nonchalant about it. Earlier in the day a blind student told me to stay home but I didn't take him seriously. I was a senior and sirens were commonplace.
I wasn't watching TV I was focused on my paper when I suddenly heard a rumbling sound in the distance. It increased in intensity and I went outside.
It was either so close, or so big all I saw was black. It was terrifying. I wanted to run but I remembered what they said so I went inside.
I had been on the phone with my dad so I called my mom to tell her I loved her. Then the phone cut off everyone had the same idea.
It got quieter and I walked to the end of the street with a neighbor. I later looked at the path and the tornado turned away from my street and also away from the heart of campus.
At the end of my street the initial word was that DCH was obliterated. Nobody could make cell phone calls.
As soon as I walked onto 15th street it was obvious that DCH was fine. What was amazing was the fact that I could see it because everything between it looked like it had been bombed.
I walked down 15th and I remember two encounters. One was with two other students. I'll never forget he said "I hate to say it but I think a lot of people died". In retrospect not as many died as it looked. We got lucky. The other was a woman who told me, anyone the tornado took everything they had. Her daughter was bawling in panic and they put her on national TV later which is unfortunate.
After the shock I decided to check on friends. Even though they were in the path they all were fine. I ran into a girl I knew at a gas station - they had a grill I had food so we decided to grill. Everything was cash of course. I bought beer everyone was buying beer.
Cooking entailed me riding their bicycle back to my place. As soon as I left intense rain and winds came. The National Guard was here at this point directing refugees. Rumors were flying. I asked a refugee if another tornado was on the way and she said she didn't know. I hauled ass got the food changed into dry clothes and got back.
Here is the worst part of my story. As I was lying on a couch thinking about everyone I thought about texting one friend to see if he was OK. I assumed he was. I later found out that his girl friend (now wife)'s house had been obliterated and her roommates were killed. She was spared because she was at the library.
Maybe it's better I didn't call or text that night. I don't even think I called him for three months after the tornado. At his bachelor's party I didn't even get drunk because some old neighbor was feeding me AA bullshit. Really stupid.
I guess if there's one thing you can pull from that know who your true friends are and be true to them.