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.
Somewhere between happy and total fucking wreck
Feet sometimes on solid ground, sometimes at the edge
To spend your waking moments, simply counting time
Is to give up on your hopes and dreams, give up on your?
Life for you, has been less than kind
So take a number, stand in line
We've all been sorry, we've all been hurt
How we survive, is what makes us who we are
An obvious disinterest, a barely managed smile
I'll take a deep nod in agreement, a status quo exile
I shirk my obligations, I miss all your deadlines
I'm excel at quitting early, you're fucking up my life
Life for you, has been less than kind
So take a number, stand in line
We've all been sorry, we've all been hurt
But how we survive, is what makes us who we are
All smiles and sunshine, a perfect world on a perfect day
Everything always works out, I have never felt so fucking great
All smiles and sunshine, a perfect world on a perfect day
Everything always works out, I have never felt so great
(Life isn't like this, life isn't like this)
(Life isn't like this, life isn't like this)
But life isn't like this, life isn't like this
(Life isn't like this)
Are we verging on an answer, fucking up my?
Life for you, has been less than kind
So take a number, stand in line
We've all been sorry, we've all been hurt
But how we survive, is what makes us who we are
(Who we are)
It's what makes us who we are
(Who we are)
Makes us who we are
(Who we are)
It's what makes us who we are
(Who we are)
Feet sometimes on solid ground, sometimes at the edge
To spend your waking moments, simply counting time
Is to give up on your hopes and dreams, give up on your?
Life for you, has been less than kind
So take a number, stand in line
We've all been sorry, we've all been hurt
How we survive, is what makes us who we are
An obvious disinterest, a barely managed smile
I'll take a deep nod in agreement, a status quo exile
I shirk my obligations, I miss all your deadlines
I'm excel at quitting early, you're fucking up my life
Life for you, has been less than kind
So take a number, stand in line
We've all been sorry, we've all been hurt
But how we survive, is what makes us who we are
All smiles and sunshine, a perfect world on a perfect day
Everything always works out, I have never felt so fucking great
All smiles and sunshine, a perfect world on a perfect day
Everything always works out, I have never felt so great
(Life isn't like this, life isn't like this)
(Life isn't like this, life isn't like this)
But life isn't like this, life isn't like this
(Life isn't like this)
Are we verging on an answer, fucking up my?
Life for you, has been less than kind
So take a number, stand in line
We've all been sorry, we've all been hurt
But how we survive, is what makes us who we are
(Who we are)
It's what makes us who we are
(Who we are)
Makes us who we are
(Who we are)
It's what makes us who we are
(Who we are)
Lyrics submitted by ThisismyUsername
Survive Lyrics as written by Christopher Chasse Brandon Barnes
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Ahh I just heard this song and cannot turn it off! It's so amazing.
I totally agree with Strider... I hope people who hear this song realize that yeah, you do have problems. Yeah, lifes a bitch. But guess what? So do I. So does the person you walked past on the streets. So does the person next to you. Everybody has problems. It took me personally my fathers death to appreciate life. But now I know that you are only as happy as you allow yourself to be. Lifes tough but its all we got. It really is how we survive that makes us who we are. (Now I just need my boyfriend to understand that.)