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 want to be the surgeon that cuts you open
That fixes all of life's mistakes
I want to be the house that you were raised in
The only place that you feel safe
I want to be your shower in the morning
That wakes you up and makes you clean
I know I'm just the weather against your window
As you sleep through a winter's dream
Something's churning the earth, something's stirring the sky
And the colour at once in column of light
Bacteria breeds on a microscope slide
The worm in my heart's the apple of your eye
Don't adore what is impossible
We have built this ship in a wine bottle
But oh, but if you knew how it worked
We would have to grow old
Something's eating at you, wakes you up in the night
If you dig in the past, who knows what you'll find
Read the newspaper print off the microfiche slide
And your holding your breath for the rest for of your life
Don't you love what is intangible
I have built this ship in a wine bottle
But if you knew who I was
You would never grow old
That fixes all of life's mistakes
I want to be the house that you were raised in
The only place that you feel safe
I want to be your shower in the morning
That wakes you up and makes you clean
I know I'm just the weather against your window
As you sleep through a winter's dream
Something's churning the earth, something's stirring the sky
And the colour at once in column of light
Bacteria breeds on a microscope slide
The worm in my heart's the apple of your eye
Don't adore what is impossible
We have built this ship in a wine bottle
But oh, but if you knew how it worked
We would have to grow old
Something's eating at you, wakes you up in the night
If you dig in the past, who knows what you'll find
Read the newspaper print off the microfiche slide
And your holding your breath for the rest for of your life
Don't you love what is intangible
I have built this ship in a wine bottle
But if you knew who I was
You would never grow old
Lyrics submitted by apocalypse84
Ship in a Bottle Lyrics as written by Conor Oberst Oberst
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Digital Ash is such a misunderstoood album in my opinion, panned by critics as not being 'as good' musically or artistically as IWAIM when the two are completely different concepts and shouldn't be compared with each other, even though they are by the same artist. This song kind of summarises that. The crying baby in this song is genius, to be honest, how first it gets opposed to the trumpet over the drums, then swirled around like it's going down a plughole and then builds back up again. Classic.