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.
As the sun is sinking low
And the evening's tug in tow
On the horizon, my true love I see
She ain't fancy, she ain't fine
While her fingers number only nine
She's the belle of the ball of the insurgency
She's my bandit queen, laying beneath the moon
In a bandit cave, a blanket laid for two
If I could find a way to your hideaway by the sea
Oh, bandit queen, steal away to me
Somewhere in the mountains
By a starry water fountain
In an alcove hid by some trees
Amidst a pile of treasure
Reclining at her leisure
My lady love sniffs at the breeze
And sitting up, she adjusts her turban
And takes another swig from a bottle of bourbon
Listening to the whistling of the train in station
Odds are it will never reach it's destination
Because the bandit queen astride her steed will ride
Oh, let me be the one to lay within your thieving arms tonight
She's my bandit queen, laying beneath the moon
In a bandit cave, there's a blanket laid for two
If I could find a way to your hideaway by the sea
Oh, bandit queen, steal away to me
Oh, bandit queen, steal away to me
And the evening's tug in tow
On the horizon, my true love I see
She ain't fancy, she ain't fine
While her fingers number only nine
She's the belle of the ball of the insurgency
She's my bandit queen, laying beneath the moon
In a bandit cave, a blanket laid for two
If I could find a way to your hideaway by the sea
Oh, bandit queen, steal away to me
Somewhere in the mountains
By a starry water fountain
In an alcove hid by some trees
Amidst a pile of treasure
Reclining at her leisure
My lady love sniffs at the breeze
And sitting up, she adjusts her turban
And takes another swig from a bottle of bourbon
Listening to the whistling of the train in station
Odds are it will never reach it's destination
Because the bandit queen astride her steed will ride
Oh, let me be the one to lay within your thieving arms tonight
She's my bandit queen, laying beneath the moon
In a bandit cave, there's a blanket laid for two
If I could find a way to your hideaway by the sea
Oh, bandit queen, steal away to me
Oh, bandit queen, steal away to me
Lyrics submitted by gyroscope
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hooray!