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.
2 AM and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake
"Can you help me unravel my latest mistake?
I don't love him, Winter just wasn't my season"
Yeah, we walk through the doors, so accusing, their eyes
Like they have any right at all to criticize
Hypocrites, you're all here for the very same reason
'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button, girl
So cradle your head in your hands
And breathe, just breathe
Oh, breathe, just breathe
May, he turn twenty-one on the base at Fort Bliss
"Just a day," he said down to the flask in his fist
Ain't been sober since maybe October of last year
Here in town, you can tell he's been down for a while
But, my God, it's so beautiful when the boy smiles
Wanna hold him, maybe I'll just sing about it
'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button, boys
So cradle your head in your hands
And breathe, just breathe
Oh, breathe, just breathe
"There's a light at each end of this tunnel" you shout
"'Cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out
And these mistakes you've made, you'll just make them again"
If you only try turning around
2 AM and I'm still awake, writing a song
If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me
Threatening the life it belongs to
And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd
'Cause these words are my diary screaming out loud
And I know that you'll use them however you want to
But you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button now
Sing it if you understand
And breathe, just breathe
Oh, breathe, just breathe
Oh, breathe, just breathe
Oh, breathe, just breathe
Oh-oh, oh-oh
Oh-oh, oh-oh
Oh-oh, oh, oh
"Can you help me unravel my latest mistake?
I don't love him, Winter just wasn't my season"
Yeah, we walk through the doors, so accusing, their eyes
Like they have any right at all to criticize
Hypocrites, you're all here for the very same reason
'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button, girl
So cradle your head in your hands
And breathe, just breathe
Oh, breathe, just breathe
May, he turn twenty-one on the base at Fort Bliss
"Just a day," he said down to the flask in his fist
Ain't been sober since maybe October of last year
Here in town, you can tell he's been down for a while
But, my God, it's so beautiful when the boy smiles
Wanna hold him, maybe I'll just sing about it
'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button, boys
So cradle your head in your hands
And breathe, just breathe
Oh, breathe, just breathe
"There's a light at each end of this tunnel" you shout
"'Cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out
And these mistakes you've made, you'll just make them again"
If you only try turning around
2 AM and I'm still awake, writing a song
If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me
Threatening the life it belongs to
And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd
'Cause these words are my diary screaming out loud
And I know that you'll use them however you want to
But you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button now
Sing it if you understand
And breathe, just breathe
Oh, breathe, just breathe
Oh, breathe, just breathe
Oh, breathe, just breathe
Oh-oh, oh-oh
Oh-oh, oh-oh
Oh-oh, oh, oh
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I always thought that the first verse was about a woman who was engaged to a man, but realized that she didn't love him.
2 Am and she calls me cause I'm still awake Can you help me unravel my latest mistake I don't love him, winter just wasn't my season. Yeah we walk through the doors so accusing their eyes Like they have any right at all to criticize Hypocrites you're all here for the very same reason.
The woman calls Anna on the night before the wedding because of what she realized. Her "latest mistake" was accepting her fiance's proposal realizing her feelings too late. And the doors they are walking through are the church doors. The bride-to-be stops the wedding while she's at the alter and she walks back down the aisle to the doors with Anna next to her. The eyes refer to the attendants, criticizing of what the bride was doing.
Just my take.....but the abortion story makes a lot of sense.