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.
Leave the bright blue door on the whitewashed wall
Leave the death ledger under City Hall
Leave the joyful air in that rubber ball today
Just leave the lilac print on the linen sheet
Leave the birds you killed at your father's feet
Let the sideways rain and the crooked street remain
'Cause everything, it must belong somewhere
There's a train off in the distance, a bicycle chained to the stairs
Everything, it must belong somewhere
I know that now, that's why I'm staying here
Leave the ocean's roar in the turquoise shell
Leave the widower in his private hell
Leave the liberty in that broken bell today
Just leave the epic poem on its yellow page
Leave the gray macaw in his covered cage
Let the traveling band on the interstate remain
'Cause everything, it must belong somewhere
Soundstage in California, televisions in Times Square, yeah
Everything, it must belong somewhere
I know that now, that's why I'm staying here
Yeah, I know that now, that's why I'm staying here
In truth, the forest hears each sound
Each blade of grass as it lies down
The world requires no audience, no witnesses, no witnesses
Leave the novelist in his daydream tune
Leave the scientist in her Rubik's Cube
Leave the true genius in the padded room today
Leave the hot, white trash in the shopping malls
Leave the hawks of war in their capitals
Let the organ's moan in the cathedral remain
'Cause everything, it must belong somewhere
They locked the devil in the basement, threw God up into the air, yeah
Everything, it must belong somewhere
I know it's true, I wish you'd leave me here
Yes, you know it's true, why don't you leave me here?
Leave the death ledger under City Hall
Leave the joyful air in that rubber ball today
Just leave the lilac print on the linen sheet
Leave the birds you killed at your father's feet
Let the sideways rain and the crooked street remain
'Cause everything, it must belong somewhere
There's a train off in the distance, a bicycle chained to the stairs
Everything, it must belong somewhere
I know that now, that's why I'm staying here
Leave the ocean's roar in the turquoise shell
Leave the widower in his private hell
Leave the liberty in that broken bell today
Just leave the epic poem on its yellow page
Leave the gray macaw in his covered cage
Let the traveling band on the interstate remain
'Cause everything, it must belong somewhere
Soundstage in California, televisions in Times Square, yeah
Everything, it must belong somewhere
I know that now, that's why I'm staying here
Yeah, I know that now, that's why I'm staying here
In truth, the forest hears each sound
Each blade of grass as it lies down
The world requires no audience, no witnesses, no witnesses
Leave the novelist in his daydream tune
Leave the scientist in her Rubik's Cube
Leave the true genius in the padded room today
Leave the hot, white trash in the shopping malls
Leave the hawks of war in their capitals
Let the organ's moan in the cathedral remain
'Cause everything, it must belong somewhere
They locked the devil in the basement, threw God up into the air, yeah
Everything, it must belong somewhere
I know it's true, I wish you'd leave me here
Yes, you know it's true, why don't you leave me here?
Lyrics submitted by just_forget_me
I Must Belong Somewhere [Companion Version] Lyrics as written by Conor Oberst
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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