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.
Was losing all my friends.
Was losing them to drinking and to driving.
Was losing all my friends, but I got them back.
I am on the mend.
At least now I can say that I am trying.
And I hope you will forget things I still lack.
Yeah. Yeah.
Is it in you now,
To barely hear the truth that you have spoken?
Twisted up by knaves,
To make a trap for fools.
Is it in you now,
To watch the things you gave your life to broken?
And stoop and build them up with warn out tools.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. (Oh.)
Yeah.
Nothing gets so bad,
A whisper from your father couldn't fix it.
Your whisper's like a bridge, he's a river span.
Take all that you have,
And turn it into something you were missing.
Somebody threw that brick, shattered all your plans.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. (Oh.)
Yeah.
Time to get the seeds into the cold ground.
It takes a while to grow anything,
Before it's coming to the end, yeah.
Before you put my body in the cold ground,
Take some time to warm it with your hand,
Before it's coming to an end, yeah.
It's coming to an end, yeah.
It's coming to an end, yeah.
Do you miss the blend,
Colors she left in your black and white field?
Do you feel condemned just being there?
I am not your friend.
I am just a man who knows how to feel.
I am not your friend.
I'm not your lover.
I'm not your family.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. (Oh.)
Yeah.
Time to get the seeds into the cold ground.
It takes a while to grow anything,
Before it's coming to the end, yeah
Was losing them to drinking and to driving.
Was losing all my friends, but I got them back.
I am on the mend.
At least now I can say that I am trying.
And I hope you will forget things I still lack.
Yeah. Yeah.
Is it in you now,
To barely hear the truth that you have spoken?
Twisted up by knaves,
To make a trap for fools.
Is it in you now,
To watch the things you gave your life to broken?
And stoop and build them up with warn out tools.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. (Oh.)
Yeah.
Nothing gets so bad,
A whisper from your father couldn't fix it.
Your whisper's like a bridge, he's a river span.
Take all that you have,
And turn it into something you were missing.
Somebody threw that brick, shattered all your plans.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. (Oh.)
Yeah.
Time to get the seeds into the cold ground.
It takes a while to grow anything,
Before it's coming to the end, yeah.
Before you put my body in the cold ground,
Take some time to warm it with your hand,
Before it's coming to an end, yeah.
It's coming to an end, yeah.
It's coming to an end, yeah.
Do you miss the blend,
Colors she left in your black and white field?
Do you feel condemned just being there?
I am not your friend.
I am just a man who knows how to feel.
I am not your friend.
I'm not your lover.
I'm not your family.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. (Oh.)
Yeah.
Time to get the seeds into the cold ground.
It takes a while to grow anything,
Before it's coming to the end, yeah
Lyrics submitted by wieners, edited by Aragorn224, SephNite
Sowing Season Lyrics as written by Vincent Accardi Jesse Lacey
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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its amazing how far music can come.. 24 years after it released and its one of the most heartfelt songs ive heard
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Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
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This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
Fast Car
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"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.
This song will be added to Brand New's myspace player this coming tuesday morning.