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.
A tiny flame inside my head
A compromise I never planned
Unravel out the finest trends
And I'm looking at a blank page now
Should have filled it up with words somehow
I whispered something in her ear
I bare my soul but she don't hear
The scratching of a mellotron
It always seemed to make her cry
Well, maybe she remembers us
Collecting space up in the sky
The scratching of a mellotron (nothing rises from my feet of clay)
(But it's ok)
It always seemed to make her cry (red mist spreads across my fingertips)
(Ardour slips)
I lay her gently on my clove
She will leave me, yes, I know
And I'm looking at a blank page now
Should have filled it up with words somehow
The scratching of a mellotron
It always seemed to make her cry
Well, maybe she remembers us
Collecting space up in the sky
The scratching of a mellotron (nothing rises from my feet of clay)
(But it's ok)
It always seemed to make her cry (red mist spreads across my fingertips)
(Ardour slips)
Well, maybe she remembers us (nothing rises from my feet of clay)
(But it's ok)
Collecting space up in the sky (red mist spreads across my fingertips)
(Ardour slips)
Don't look back into black
Don't let the memory or the sound drag you down
Don't look back into black
Don't let the memory or the sound drag you down
Don't look back into black (to end as friends)
Don't let the memory or the sound drag you down (so painful)
Don't look back into black (to end as friends)
Don't let the memory or the sound drag you down (so painful)
Don't look back into black (don't look down, shut it down)
Don't let the memory or the sound drag you down (don't look down, shut it down)
Don't look back into black (don't look down, shut it down)
Don't let the memory or the sound drag you down (don't look down, shut it down)
Don't look back into black (don't look down, shut it down)
Don't let the memory or the sound drag you down (don't look down, shut it down)
A compromise I never planned
Unravel out the finest trends
And I'm looking at a blank page now
Should have filled it up with words somehow
I whispered something in her ear
I bare my soul but she don't hear
The scratching of a mellotron
It always seemed to make her cry
Well, maybe she remembers us
Collecting space up in the sky
The scratching of a mellotron (nothing rises from my feet of clay)
(But it's ok)
It always seemed to make her cry (red mist spreads across my fingertips)
(Ardour slips)
I lay her gently on my clove
She will leave me, yes, I know
And I'm looking at a blank page now
Should have filled it up with words somehow
The scratching of a mellotron
It always seemed to make her cry
Well, maybe she remembers us
Collecting space up in the sky
The scratching of a mellotron (nothing rises from my feet of clay)
(But it's ok)
It always seemed to make her cry (red mist spreads across my fingertips)
(Ardour slips)
Well, maybe she remembers us (nothing rises from my feet of clay)
(But it's ok)
Collecting space up in the sky (red mist spreads across my fingertips)
(Ardour slips)
Don't look back into black
Don't let the memory or the sound drag you down
Don't look back into black
Don't let the memory or the sound drag you down
Don't look back into black (to end as friends)
Don't let the memory or the sound drag you down (so painful)
Don't look back into black (to end as friends)
Don't let the memory or the sound drag you down (so painful)
Don't look back into black (don't look down, shut it down)
Don't let the memory or the sound drag you down (don't look down, shut it down)
Don't look back into black (don't look down, shut it down)
Don't let the memory or the sound drag you down (don't look down, shut it down)
Don't look back into black (don't look down, shut it down)
Don't let the memory or the sound drag you down (don't look down, shut it down)
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Fit this into it's chronological place in Deadwing, and it'll make more sense, if you also understand the whole ghost story of Deadwing as a whole.