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.
Oh blast, I drank the wrong draft down
Two sips from your crown
The drops you left for me
Am I so easily appeased?
Madrigal, why didn't you come out today, you promised to play
Marigold, why didn't you come out today, we promised to play fair
You were already there
You were ready to cast our fate to the wind
To try your hand at everything
What a cinch it would have been had we been there
Those trials are held for tuning in, and smiles are stretched to be shown
So when you claim to see for miles, it's not, but I believe it's true
Yes, trials are held for tuning in and smiles are stretched to be worn
So when you claim to see for miles, you don't, but I believe you do
On this day which began as execution day
And sure enough became execution day
On this day which began as execution day
And sure enough became execution day
On this day which began as execution day
And sure enough became execution day
On this day which began as execution day
And true to form became execution day
On this day which began
And true to form became execution day
On this day which began
And true to form became execution day
On this day which began
And true to form became execution day
Two sips from your crown
The drops you left for me
Am I so easily appeased?
Madrigal, why didn't you come out today, you promised to play
Marigold, why didn't you come out today, we promised to play fair
You were already there
You were ready to cast our fate to the wind
To try your hand at everything
What a cinch it would have been had we been there
Those trials are held for tuning in, and smiles are stretched to be shown
So when you claim to see for miles, it's not, but I believe it's true
Yes, trials are held for tuning in and smiles are stretched to be worn
So when you claim to see for miles, you don't, but I believe you do
On this day which began as execution day
And sure enough became execution day
On this day which began as execution day
And sure enough became execution day
On this day which began as execution day
And sure enough became execution day
On this day which began as execution day
And true to form became execution day
On this day which began
And true to form became execution day
On this day which began
And true to form became execution day
On this day which began
And true to form became execution day
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Also, the "Two sips from your crown" line is very similarly repeated in a later New Pornographers song, "Use It" from their Twin Cinema album, released in 2005.
In this first song released in 2000, it is this:
"Oh blast, I drank the wrong draft down Two sips from your crown The drops you left for me Am I so easily appeased?"
Taking the whole song in context, it's about the singer realizing, "I drank a measly amount of a not life-sustaining solution; mere drops, all from the 'crown' of 'royalty.' I need water, but this is not only not enough, it's poisoning, adding insults to injury."
Now, back to the later song released in 2005. In "Use It," the line is "Two sips from the crown of human kindness, and I'm shit-faced."
This one sounds like getting drunk off either kindness, or false kindness. Either way, it's drunk, so it's not the clearest thinking, and it can be over-confident and stupid. However, I'm only taking the one line out of the entire song, without context of that song. I'd like to analyze that song, too. Maybe I'll have thoughts posted about "Use It" by the time you see this.