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.
You can make a plan
Carve it into stone
Like a feather falling
It is still unknown
Until the clock speaks up
Says it's time to go
You could choose the high
Or the lower road
You might clinch your fist
You might fork your tongue
As you curse or praise
All the things you've done
And the faders move
And the music dies
As we pass over
On the arc of time
So you nurse your love
Like a wounded dove
In the covered cage of night
Every star is crossed
By phrenetic thoughts
That separate and then collide
And they twist like sheets
Till you fall asleep
And they finally unwind
It's a black balloon
It's a dream you'll soon deny
I hear if you make friends
With Jesus Christ
You will get right up
From that chalk outline
And then you'll get dolled up
And you'll dress in white
All to take your place
In his chorus line
And then in you'll come
With those marching drums
In a saintly compromise
No more whiskey slurs
No more blonde haired girls
For your whole eternal life
And you'll do the dance
That was choreographed
At the very dawn of time
Saying, I told you son
The day would come
You would die, you'd die, you'd die, you'd die
You would die, you'd die, you'd die, you'd die
You would die, you'd die, you'd die, you'd die
You would die, you'd die, you'd die
To the deepest part
Of the human heart
The fear of death expands
Till we crack the code
We have always known
But could never understand
On a circuit board
We will soon be born
Again, again, again, again
And again, again, again, again
And again, again, again, again
And again, again, again
Carve it into stone
Like a feather falling
It is still unknown
Until the clock speaks up
Says it's time to go
You could choose the high
Or the lower road
You might clinch your fist
You might fork your tongue
As you curse or praise
All the things you've done
And the faders move
And the music dies
As we pass over
On the arc of time
So you nurse your love
Like a wounded dove
In the covered cage of night
Every star is crossed
By phrenetic thoughts
That separate and then collide
And they twist like sheets
Till you fall asleep
And they finally unwind
It's a black balloon
It's a dream you'll soon deny
I hear if you make friends
With Jesus Christ
You will get right up
From that chalk outline
And then you'll get dolled up
And you'll dress in white
All to take your place
In his chorus line
And then in you'll come
With those marching drums
In a saintly compromise
No more whiskey slurs
No more blonde haired girls
For your whole eternal life
And you'll do the dance
That was choreographed
At the very dawn of time
Saying, I told you son
The day would come
You would die, you'd die, you'd die, you'd die
You would die, you'd die, you'd die, you'd die
You would die, you'd die, you'd die, you'd die
You would die, you'd die, you'd die
To the deepest part
Of the human heart
The fear of death expands
Till we crack the code
We have always known
But could never understand
On a circuit board
We will soon be born
Again, again, again, again
And again, again, again, again
And again, again, again, again
And again, again, again
Lyrics submitted by elishacuthbertfan
Arc of Time Lyrics as written by Oberst Mogis
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
I thought the bit about making friends with Jesus is similar to that quote by some guy I read a while back. Something about "If Heaven is anything like church, I don't want a life time of it". I think he's attacking religion more than faith, the kingdom of god or whatever is this place where you go to worship Jesus. Perhaps his view is that many Christians have it wrong by putting the man the first, and not his ideals. By worshipping this god and this demi-god, whilst ignoring the messages of peace and harmony.
I think the important line is "In a saintly compromise", however. That heaven is not something you choose, but that it is something /givien/ to you. You compromise what you see as best to fit what The Bible says. Maybe he is in fact dismissing the whole idea of Jesus AND his teachings (and I would agree that Jesus/The Bible had some good ideas, but wasn't right about everything). It's funny that what struck me about the saintly compromise was that you would no longer have any: "whisky slurs, no more blonde haired girls for your whole eternal life". The whisky slurs sum up inhebriation, and how you won't be getting drunk anymore and meeting these new girls and doing your mortal things anymore, and will be doing some form of higher action in your eternal life. The reason it spoke out to me, is that it struck me as so true in the tone he sings it, as in "You won't be able to do this anymore, but you actually love the mixture of depression and happiness in your life, it's what makes you feel human".
To sum up, yeah, I think this second half of the song is a dismissal of, rather than an attack on, religion. But deeper than that, it is saying how people are content with their lives on Earth, with their whisky slurs and blonde haired girls, because it's all that we know. It's certainly the philosophy I often adopt when concerning spirituality, that the idea of trying to be spiritual is impossible when we're just so damn... human!