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.
We're too late, we're too late
Release the rigging
No one uses the phone anymore
The tracks are wrecked and the odometer's ticking
The edge is pushed and the lines are melting
Too scared to look at what I hear outside
Release
We're too late
Protect, embrace, engulf
Remember the summer in Abaddon
Protect, enslave, in love
Remember the summer in Abaddon
Way offsides and I'm almost empty
I'm cracked and stripped like a domino's crush
Send a tell if you're ever near me
I'm A.F.K and I can't get by
Release me
This vessel's underway
Secure the rigging, we're headed south
Tack the sails, man the posts
We're headed south into the wind
Protect, embrace, engulf
Remember the summer in Abaddon
Protect, enslave, in love
Remember the summer in Abaddon
(We're too late)
Protect, embrace, engulf
Remember, the summer, in Abaddon
Protect, enslave, in love
Remember, the summer, in Abaddon
No one hears you fall to the floor
The mirror's broke and the newtonian's clicking
The finds are pressed and the veins are pumping
Too far gone to do more than breathe
Release me
This vessels underway
Headed south
Miles and miles of telephone poles
Fallen and tossed around
I can't talk to you anymore
And I miss you
And I miss you
Not in a Slint way, but I miss you
Seldom to touch far away from here
Even if I'm released
I can't talk to you anymore
And I miss you
Not in a Slint way, but I miss you
Release the rigging
No one uses the phone anymore
The tracks are wrecked and the odometer's ticking
The edge is pushed and the lines are melting
Too scared to look at what I hear outside
Release
We're too late
Protect, embrace, engulf
Remember the summer in Abaddon
Protect, enslave, in love
Remember the summer in Abaddon
Way offsides and I'm almost empty
I'm cracked and stripped like a domino's crush
Send a tell if you're ever near me
I'm A.F.K and I can't get by
Release me
This vessel's underway
Secure the rigging, we're headed south
Tack the sails, man the posts
We're headed south into the wind
Protect, embrace, engulf
Remember the summer in Abaddon
Protect, enslave, in love
Remember the summer in Abaddon
(We're too late)
Protect, embrace, engulf
Remember, the summer, in Abaddon
Protect, enslave, in love
Remember, the summer, in Abaddon
No one hears you fall to the floor
The mirror's broke and the newtonian's clicking
The finds are pressed and the veins are pumping
Too far gone to do more than breathe
Release me
This vessels underway
Headed south
Miles and miles of telephone poles
Fallen and tossed around
I can't talk to you anymore
And I miss you
And I miss you
Not in a Slint way, but I miss you
Seldom to touch far away from here
Even if I'm released
I can't talk to you anymore
And I miss you
Not in a Slint way, but I miss you
Lyrics submitted by emograndpa
AFK Lyrics as written by Robertdale Crow Armistead Smith
Lyrics © SC PUBLISHING DBA SECRETLY CANADIAN PUB., Songtrust Ave
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Oh yeah, and to partayattaylors: Drive 105, only good radio station I know.
drive105.com/