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.
I broke free on a Saturday morning
I put the pedal to the floor
headed north on mills avenue
and listened to the engine roar
my broken house behind me
and good things ahead
a girl named Cathy
wants a little of my time
six cylinders underneath the hood
crashing and kicking
aha!
listen to the engine whine
i am going to make it through this year
if it kills me
i am going to make it though this year
if it kills me
i played video games in a drunken haze
i was seventeen years young
hurt my knuckles punching the machines
the taste of scotch rich on my tongue
and then Cathy showed up
and we hung out
trading swigs from a bottle
all bitter and clean
locking eyes
holding hands
twin high maintenance machines
i am going to make it through this year
if it kills me
i am going to make it though this year
if it kills me
i drove home in the California dusk
i could feel the alcohol inside of me hum
pictured the look on my stepfather's face
ready for the bad things to come
i down shifted
as i pulled into the driveway
the motor screaming out
stuck in second gear
the scene ends badly
as you might imagine
in a cavalcade of anger and fear
there will be feasting and dancing
in Jerusalem next year
i am going to make it through this year
if it kills me
i am going to make it though this year
if it kills me
I put the pedal to the floor
headed north on mills avenue
and listened to the engine roar
my broken house behind me
and good things ahead
a girl named Cathy
wants a little of my time
six cylinders underneath the hood
crashing and kicking
aha!
listen to the engine whine
i am going to make it through this year
if it kills me
i am going to make it though this year
if it kills me
i played video games in a drunken haze
i was seventeen years young
hurt my knuckles punching the machines
the taste of scotch rich on my tongue
and then Cathy showed up
and we hung out
trading swigs from a bottle
all bitter and clean
locking eyes
holding hands
twin high maintenance machines
i am going to make it through this year
if it kills me
i am going to make it though this year
if it kills me
i drove home in the California dusk
i could feel the alcohol inside of me hum
pictured the look on my stepfather's face
ready for the bad things to come
i down shifted
as i pulled into the driveway
the motor screaming out
stuck in second gear
the scene ends badly
as you might imagine
in a cavalcade of anger and fear
there will be feasting and dancing
in Jerusalem next year
i am going to make it through this year
if it kills me
i am going to make it though this year
if it kills me
Lyrics submitted by fuckedupdog
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"Sounds like This Might Be Giants. Just trade an accordian for piano and trade perverse cynicism for triumphant cynicism."
If you compare John Darnielle to the writer of "Particle Man," you've clearly never heard a Mountain Goats song. Oh and it's "They" might be giants.