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.
Fail the sun to shine
As there is no more beauty left to alighten
What was once flourished has withered away
And what will not weather I cannot stomach
Oh the cruelty of a persistent scar
Fail the sun to shine
I can keep my lips from trembling
While I sever with regretful hands
The strings so carelessly attached to me
I can remove the litter of intimacy
Alas, this won't be the death of me
If that which breaks merely tears seldom lasts
How can that which breaks ever heal
This won't be the death of me
I would rather bleed than feel
I would rather bleed
No man can learn the value of his life without pain
And yet no man deserves a life's worth in pain
And I have a lifetime left to learn
Am I not a better man?
A man who has grown sound and strong
A man who has learned from his misery
Am I not a better man?
A clever man who taught his flesh the way of steel
This lasting man of resolve and will
Am I not a better man?
Or just a bitter man?
That rots with memories and only grows cold?
And indeed, I have grown cold
And this moment feels like the harshest end to the coldest day
This day has lasted a lifetime
With an eternity left to lapse
Here I am, forsaken
Just as I forsook the sun
A blend of venom and winter
The kiss of frost and poison
How I wish for a steady hand to wipe away these scars
Or a tender kiss to render me forgetful
Were the sun to follow bitter examples
We would truly know winter
Eternally
May the sun shine on the forsaken
May the sun shine brightly
And illuminate our scars
As there is no more beauty left to alighten
What was once flourished has withered away
And what will not weather I cannot stomach
Oh the cruelty of a persistent scar
Fail the sun to shine
I can keep my lips from trembling
While I sever with regretful hands
The strings so carelessly attached to me
I can remove the litter of intimacy
Alas, this won't be the death of me
If that which breaks merely tears seldom lasts
How can that which breaks ever heal
This won't be the death of me
I would rather bleed than feel
I would rather bleed
No man can learn the value of his life without pain
And yet no man deserves a life's worth in pain
And I have a lifetime left to learn
Am I not a better man?
A man who has grown sound and strong
A man who has learned from his misery
Am I not a better man?
A clever man who taught his flesh the way of steel
This lasting man of resolve and will
Am I not a better man?
Or just a bitter man?
That rots with memories and only grows cold?
And indeed, I have grown cold
And this moment feels like the harshest end to the coldest day
This day has lasted a lifetime
With an eternity left to lapse
Here I am, forsaken
Just as I forsook the sun
A blend of venom and winter
The kiss of frost and poison
How I wish for a steady hand to wipe away these scars
Or a tender kiss to render me forgetful
Were the sun to follow bitter examples
We would truly know winter
Eternally
May the sun shine on the forsaken
May the sun shine brightly
And illuminate our scars
Willing Oneself to Forget What Cannot Otherwise Be Forgiven song meanings
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these lyrics are unbeleiveable .. when i read them i feel like i'm reading poetry they are so original and well written
The sixth line is "Oh, how the cruelty of a person can scar"
And, the song is pretty self-explanatory...
Obvious meaning. SHAI HULUD destroys.