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.
It was an upset
In two minutes flat
We're back on the freeway
Foot to the mat
I can't understand it
We had it down pat
It's very upsetting
Could we leave it at that
We all had positions
We each had a role
We'd overrehearsed it
We had full control
They can't teach you acting
It's there in your soul
It's the same with a bank job
And each thing we stole
So I don't need attitude
'Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
And wait by the phone
I was the driver
You ran the show
You had the last word
The go or no go
I knew every laneway
In Ontario
But it's not what you're sure of
It's what you don't know
It should have been filled with
The usual ones
Throwing their cash in
To mutual funds
We all had our ski masks
And sawed off shotguns
But how do you plan for
A bank full of nuns
But I guess we panicked
We all have taboos
And they were like zebras
They had us confused
We should be in condos
With oceanfront views
Instead we're most wanted
On the 6 o'clock news
So, I don't need attitude
'Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
And wait by the phone
Inside the police car
You tried to explain
Your crisis of conscience
The voice in your brain
And now that the whole thing
Has gone down the drain
I think we all know who
Should shoulder the blame
'Cause you made a choice there
Almost sublime
I'm all for compassion
Just not on my dime
You look like an amateur
And that's the real crime
So I'll take a walk now
And you do the time
And I don't need attitude
'Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
There's no need to phone
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
In two minutes flat
We're back on the freeway
Foot to the mat
I can't understand it
We had it down pat
It's very upsetting
Could we leave it at that
We all had positions
We each had a role
We'd overrehearsed it
We had full control
They can't teach you acting
It's there in your soul
It's the same with a bank job
And each thing we stole
So I don't need attitude
'Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
And wait by the phone
I was the driver
You ran the show
You had the last word
The go or no go
I knew every laneway
In Ontario
But it's not what you're sure of
It's what you don't know
It should have been filled with
The usual ones
Throwing their cash in
To mutual funds
We all had our ski masks
And sawed off shotguns
But how do you plan for
A bank full of nuns
But I guess we panicked
We all have taboos
And they were like zebras
They had us confused
We should be in condos
With oceanfront views
Instead we're most wanted
On the 6 o'clock news
So, I don't need attitude
'Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
And wait by the phone
Inside the police car
You tried to explain
Your crisis of conscience
The voice in your brain
And now that the whole thing
Has gone down the drain
I think we all know who
Should shoulder the blame
'Cause you made a choice there
Almost sublime
I'm all for compassion
Just not on my dime
You look like an amateur
And that's the real crime
So I'll take a walk now
And you do the time
And I don't need attitude
'Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
There's no need to phone
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Ave Grave
Thee More Shallows
Thee More Shallows
Show Me a Little Shame
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
He certainly did earn that reputation.
when rules change
Life in Your Way
Life in Your Way
High life
Step
Ministry
Ministry
Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
I can almost imagine BnL robbing a bank....hilarious ^__^
this song is freakin' sweet. and I use "freakin'" pretty sparsely.
of course, it's about not taking the blame for a group effort because, hey!, it wasn't their job to take care of whatever went wrong. great lyric: "I'm all for compassion, just not on my dime"
The funniest song on "Are Me", no doubt. I just love the lines, "We all had our ski masks and sawed-off shotguns, but how do you plan for a bank full of nuns?"
I agree with eleventy, it's a song about placing the blame on an individual in a team because they didn't do what they were designated to do.
I just don't get the phone part. Was it just used for the rhyme or is there a point? Is the guy who fouled-up waiting by the phone in jail, or what? Sometimes I think it's about someone who called in what they were doing, but that doesn't make sense since they tell us that person is going to jail...
I could see the "bank job" as a metaphor for a relationship, which would tie the phone part in.
You have a relationship, and it all seems perfect, but then a problem comes up, and you deal with it poorly, dooming the relationship
I also see it as a metaphor for a relationship (as TheThirdDuke does)
And I don't need attitude / 'Cause you knew just what to do / We all did our best now / We all need to rest now / Leave me alone / There's no need to phone
You're giving me attitude, and I know you were right. We tried so hard to make the relationship work, now we just need a break.. so please don't call me.
Somehow most songs can be related to relationships =)
It's pretty much just about a bank robbery gone wrong. He was the driver and he's yelling at everyone because they stuffed up. Then again, it wasn't their fault, and the bank was full of nuns. They should be rich, but now they are on the run, and it's the others fault.
The guy who stuffed up called the police because he felt guilty and now the other is going to give him up and confess and stuff him.
Great song. I agree 100% with what has been mentioned here already. It can be taken literally as a humorous song about a failed robbery attempt, or as a teriffic metaphor for a failed relationship.
This song is just another brilliant example of BNL's whit and humour. Easily the most humourous song on BNLAM. Perhaps my favourite part is the (faint) police siren behind this line: "'Cause you made a choice there Almost sublime"
Frankly I love it.
I love this song. :P I think it's about a group of people who planned out a really elaborate bank robbery, and then the person in charge on the inside had an attack of conscience because the bank was full of nuns (or good people). The leader couldn't bring him(or her)self to steal from these people or maybe even kill some of them. He decided to run and got caught because of it, and the driver (the singer) is pissed off because they lost the chance to actually rob the bank.
"We should be in condos With oceanfront views Instead we're most wanted On the 6 o'clock news" The driver isn't against conscience and compassion, but he doesn't want to let it affect his chance to get rich. "I'm all for compassion Just not on my dime" And at the end of the song the driver is telling the person who screwed up that it's his fault and he should take the blame for getting caught and do the time, instead of ratting out the rest of the group.
Hey Occam's Harmony, is this song not about BNL's hatred of American foreign policy and the Bush administration? That's how I understand it. The bank is metaphorical Iraq and the "robbers" are the American military who went in to take over but "screwed it up" and now they are on the run. America should be kicked back and relaxed with all the oil money but we got freaked out by the metaphorical "nuns" (bombs) and are now trying to pull out. Isn't this song about that?