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.
Oh my fair North Star,
I have held to you dearly,
I had asked you to steer me,
Till one cloud-scattered night,
I got lost and in my travels I met Leo the lion,
Met a king and met a giant, with their errant light,
There's the wind and the rain, and the mercy of the fallen,
Who say they have no claim to know what's right.
There's the weak and the strong and the beds that have no answer,
And that's where I may rest my head tonight.
I saw all the bright people,
In imposing flocks they landed,
And they got what they demanded,
And they scratched at the ground.
Then they flew, and the field grew as sweetly for the flightless,
Who had longing yet despite this,
They could hear every sound.
There's the wind and the rain,
And the mercy of the fallen,
Who say they have no claim to know what's right.
There's the weak and the strong and the beds that have no answer,
And that's where I may rest my head tonight.
If your sister or your brother were stumbling on their last mile,
In a self-inflicted exile,
You'd hope they'd meet a humble friend.
And I hope someday that the best of Falstaff's planners
Give me seven half-built manors,
Where half-dreams may dream without end.
There's the wind and the rain, and the mercy of the fallen,
Who say they have no claim to know what's right.
There's the weak and the strong and the many stars that guide us,
We have some of them inside us.
I have held to you dearly,
I had asked you to steer me,
Till one cloud-scattered night,
I got lost and in my travels I met Leo the lion,
Met a king and met a giant, with their errant light,
There's the wind and the rain, and the mercy of the fallen,
Who say they have no claim to know what's right.
There's the weak and the strong and the beds that have no answer,
And that's where I may rest my head tonight.
I saw all the bright people,
In imposing flocks they landed,
And they got what they demanded,
And they scratched at the ground.
Then they flew, and the field grew as sweetly for the flightless,
Who had longing yet despite this,
They could hear every sound.
There's the wind and the rain,
And the mercy of the fallen,
Who say they have no claim to know what's right.
There's the weak and the strong and the beds that have no answer,
And that's where I may rest my head tonight.
If your sister or your brother were stumbling on their last mile,
In a self-inflicted exile,
You'd hope they'd meet a humble friend.
And I hope someday that the best of Falstaff's planners
Give me seven half-built manors,
Where half-dreams may dream without end.
There's the wind and the rain, and the mercy of the fallen,
Who say they have no claim to know what's right.
There's the weak and the strong and the many stars that guide us,
We have some of them inside us.
Lyrics submitted by VampedVixen, edited by IDanielsen
Mercy of the Fallen Lyrics as written by Dar Williams
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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