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.
Don't walk the plank like I did
You will be dispensed with
When you've become
Inconvenient
Up on Harrowdown Hill
Near where you used to go to school
That's where I
That's where I am lying down
Did I fall or was I pushed?
Did I fall or was I pushed?
Then where's the blood?
Then where's the blood?
But I'm coming home, I'm coming home
To make it alright, so dry your eyes
We think the same things at the same time
We just can't do anything about it
We think the same things at the same time
We just can't do anything about it
So don't ask me, ask the ministry
Don't ask me, ask the ministry
We think the same things at the same time
There are so many of us, so you can't count
We think the same things at the same time
There are so many of us, so you can't count
Can you see me when I'm running?
Can you see me when I'm running?
Away from there
Away from there
I can't take the pressure
No one cares if you live or die
They just want me gone
They want me gone
But I'm coming home, I'm coming home
To make it alright, so dry your eyes
We think the same things at the same time
We just can't do anything about it
We think the same things at the same time
There are too many of us, so you can't
There are too many of us, so you can't count
It was me lead onto the back of Harrowdown Hill
It was me lead onto the back of Harrowdown Hill
It was a slippery, slippery, slippery slope
It was a slippery, slippery, slippery slope
I feel me slipping in and out of consciousness
I feel me slipping in and out of consciousness
I feel me
You will be dispensed with
When you've become
Inconvenient
Up on Harrowdown Hill
Near where you used to go to school
That's where I
That's where I am lying down
Did I fall or was I pushed?
Did I fall or was I pushed?
Then where's the blood?
Then where's the blood?
But I'm coming home, I'm coming home
To make it alright, so dry your eyes
We think the same things at the same time
We just can't do anything about it
We think the same things at the same time
We just can't do anything about it
So don't ask me, ask the ministry
Don't ask me, ask the ministry
We think the same things at the same time
There are so many of us, so you can't count
We think the same things at the same time
There are so many of us, so you can't count
Can you see me when I'm running?
Can you see me when I'm running?
Away from there
Away from there
I can't take the pressure
No one cares if you live or die
They just want me gone
They want me gone
But I'm coming home, I'm coming home
To make it alright, so dry your eyes
We think the same things at the same time
We just can't do anything about it
We think the same things at the same time
There are too many of us, so you can't
There are too many of us, so you can't count
It was me lead onto the back of Harrowdown Hill
It was me lead onto the back of Harrowdown Hill
It was a slippery, slippery, slippery slope
It was a slippery, slippery, slippery slope
I feel me slipping in and out of consciousness
I feel me slipping in and out of consciousness
I feel me
Lyrics submitted by black_cow_of_death
Harrowdown Hill Lyrics as written by Thomas Edward Yorke
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Wow, my favorite song on the album. I think it's one of the many songs on here about political activism. He wants to lead the change and he's telling the people who think like him that they need to stand up.