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.
Figure since I'm so far gone, oceans away
I can lay my saber down today
I miss the words I love the words, you did not say
I miss the kiss you never gave away
There goes the sun, oceans away
And days die young when you're gone and you're gone
There goes the sun, oceans away
And leaves the day for someone else
Honestly I thought that we could make it all the way
Barefoot on beaches dancing against the gray
But stone by stone the castle crumbled to the ground
I stood and stared as you started to fall into the waves
There goes the sun, oceans away
And days die young when you're gone and you're gone
There goes the sun, oceans away
And leaves the day for someone else
Here's to the man of your dreams
I take it all in a box and make my way down to the shore
Throw it in and begin to leave it to the waves
I can lay my saber down today
I miss the words I love the words, you did not say
I miss the kiss you never gave away
There goes the sun, oceans away
And days die young when you're gone and you're gone
There goes the sun, oceans away
And leaves the day for someone else
Honestly I thought that we could make it all the way
Barefoot on beaches dancing against the gray
But stone by stone the castle crumbled to the ground
I stood and stared as you started to fall into the waves
There goes the sun, oceans away
And days die young when you're gone and you're gone
There goes the sun, oceans away
And leaves the day for someone else
Here's to the man of your dreams
I take it all in a box and make my way down to the shore
Throw it in and begin to leave it to the waves
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This is a fantastic song. One of the best off of Reason. Here's an article with Isaac talking about it:
"When I was 19, I started looking at the songs and how all my friends weren't connecting with my music. I pretty much threw them away, literally, and then broke up with my first girlfriend and chose to throw caution to the wind and write about that. That's actually a song on our second EP called "Ocean's Away." It was actually the first song I wrote about my life." -Isaac