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, I dream a highway back to you, love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision, come and rest my soul
I dream a highway back to you
John, he's kicking out the footlights
The Grand Ole Opry's got a brand new band
Lord, let me die with a hammer in my hand
I dream a highway back to you
I think I'll move down into Memphis
And thank the hatchet man who forked my tongue
I lie and wait until the wagons come
And dream a highway back to you
The getaway kickin' up cinders
An empty wagon full of rattling bones
Moon in the mirror on a three hour Jones
I dream a highway back to you
Oh, I dream a highway back to you, love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision, come arrest my soul
I dream a highway back to you
Which lover are you, Jack of Diamonds?
Now you be Emmylou and I'll be Gram
I send a letter, don't know who I am
I dream a highway back to you
I'm an indisguisable shade of twilight
Any second now, I'm gonna turn myself on
In the blue display of the cool cathode ray
I dream a highway back to you
I wish you knew me, Jack of Diamonds
Fire riding, wheeling when I lead 'em up
Drank whiskey with my water, sugar in my tea
My sails in rags with the staggers and the jags
I dream a highway back to you
Oh, I dream a highway back to you, love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision, come molest my soul
I dream a highway back to you
Now, give me some of what you're having
I'll take you as a viper into my head
A knife into my bed, arsenic when I'm fed
I dream a highway back to you
Hang overhead from all directions
Radiation from the porcelain light
Blind and blistered by the morning white
I dream a highway back to you
Sunday morning at the Diner
Hollywood trembles on the verge of tears
I watched the waitress for a thousand years
Saw a wheel inside a wheel, heard a call within a call
I dreamed a highway back to, you
Oh, I dream a highway back to you, love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision, come molest my soul
I dream a highway back to you
Step into the light, poor Lazarus
Don't lie alone behind the window shade
Let me see the mark death made
I dream a highway back to you
I dream a highway back to you
What will sustain us through the winter?
Where did last years lessons go?
Walk me out into the rain and snow
I dream a highway back to you
Oh, I dream a highway back to you, love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision, come and bless my soul
I dream a highway back to you
I dream a highway back to you
Oh, I dream a highway back to you, love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision, come and bless my soul
I dream a highway back to you
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision, come and rest my soul
I dream a highway back to you
John, he's kicking out the footlights
The Grand Ole Opry's got a brand new band
Lord, let me die with a hammer in my hand
I dream a highway back to you
I think I'll move down into Memphis
And thank the hatchet man who forked my tongue
I lie and wait until the wagons come
And dream a highway back to you
The getaway kickin' up cinders
An empty wagon full of rattling bones
Moon in the mirror on a three hour Jones
I dream a highway back to you
Oh, I dream a highway back to you, love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision, come arrest my soul
I dream a highway back to you
Which lover are you, Jack of Diamonds?
Now you be Emmylou and I'll be Gram
I send a letter, don't know who I am
I dream a highway back to you
I'm an indisguisable shade of twilight
Any second now, I'm gonna turn myself on
In the blue display of the cool cathode ray
I dream a highway back to you
I wish you knew me, Jack of Diamonds
Fire riding, wheeling when I lead 'em up
Drank whiskey with my water, sugar in my tea
My sails in rags with the staggers and the jags
I dream a highway back to you
Oh, I dream a highway back to you, love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision, come molest my soul
I dream a highway back to you
Now, give me some of what you're having
I'll take you as a viper into my head
A knife into my bed, arsenic when I'm fed
I dream a highway back to you
Hang overhead from all directions
Radiation from the porcelain light
Blind and blistered by the morning white
I dream a highway back to you
Sunday morning at the Diner
Hollywood trembles on the verge of tears
I watched the waitress for a thousand years
Saw a wheel inside a wheel, heard a call within a call
I dreamed a highway back to, you
Oh, I dream a highway back to you, love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision, come molest my soul
I dream a highway back to you
Step into the light, poor Lazarus
Don't lie alone behind the window shade
Let me see the mark death made
I dream a highway back to you
I dream a highway back to you
What will sustain us through the winter?
Where did last years lessons go?
Walk me out into the rain and snow
I dream a highway back to you
Oh, I dream a highway back to you, love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision, come and bless my soul
I dream a highway back to you
I dream a highway back to you
Oh, I dream a highway back to you, love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision, come and bless my soul
I dream a highway back to you
Lyrics submitted by HagbardCeline, edited by chuxvom, Dawne
I Dream a Highway Lyrics as written by Gillian Howard Welch David Todd Rawlings
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Year-late response to bearhunter: I think the "John" of line 5 has a double meaning -- the verse is definitley a reference to John Henry, the legendary railroad spike driver who pit his own strength with a hammer against the newfangled steam-powered spike driving machine that was going to put him out of work. John Henry won the spike-driving race, but died of exhaustion in the process. I have heard 1940s-era Black work songs about John Henry that have him declaring, "before I let your steam driver beat me down / would die with my hammer in my hand". So the line "Lord let me die with a hammer in my hand" is basically a prayer for the strength to never give up.
Also there's a verse about John Henry in Elvis Presley Blues, which is on the same album.