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.
If you think you're throwing words to the wise,
the first thing that you ever felt, inside and under your belt
To a place that smothers children
Caught the space between two lives
I've seen you working, wasted and gray
You've got a delicate heart, and listen, you would be smart
To keep yourself in a world of mothers, sisters, daughters and wives
Listen, I've come to rock this boat
The take and giving means no room for the living
And some of you think it loves and lovers
Death in one corner, use suspense in the other
I know that when it's over we'll be holding one another
We only ever wanted to feel you
Two years of taction only teaches you to fight
We only ever wanted to try
And if you see this world as ugly and thin
Then you'll be so cruel to the touch, you'll leap out the body you're in
To a land of angry soil, that swallows boys and cops or men
I've seen you taste the salt of your tears
You always stop when you start, and listen, you would be smart
To keep yourself in a world of mothers, sisters, daughters and wives
Listen, I've come to rock this boat
The take and giving means no room for the living
And some of you think it loves and lovers
Death in one corner, use suspense in the other
I know that when it's over we'll be holding one another
We only ever wanted to feel you
Two years of taction only teaches you to fight
We only ever wanted to try
I'll raise a glass to the and no one else's fool
Raise some question to the rule who says you'd have to lose a love to find one
Take the things you don't respect and I will miss them
To features night into one
That says you have to lose a love to find one
I know that when it's over we'll be holding one another
We only ever wanted to feel you
Two years of taction only teaches you to fight
We only ever wanted to try
I'm around, I'm around, I'm ok, I'm ok
I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm insane, I'm insane
We are, yeah, we are, we are
We are just sinking for something
With our hands, and our fists, muscles, skin, thumb, and bone
We never grew up, we were cut from the stone
That holds your body and soul
We are all just sinking for something
the first thing that you ever felt, inside and under your belt
To a place that smothers children
Caught the space between two lives
I've seen you working, wasted and gray
You've got a delicate heart, and listen, you would be smart
To keep yourself in a world of mothers, sisters, daughters and wives
Listen, I've come to rock this boat
The take and giving means no room for the living
And some of you think it loves and lovers
Death in one corner, use suspense in the other
I know that when it's over we'll be holding one another
We only ever wanted to feel you
Two years of taction only teaches you to fight
We only ever wanted to try
And if you see this world as ugly and thin
Then you'll be so cruel to the touch, you'll leap out the body you're in
To a land of angry soil, that swallows boys and cops or men
I've seen you taste the salt of your tears
You always stop when you start, and listen, you would be smart
To keep yourself in a world of mothers, sisters, daughters and wives
Listen, I've come to rock this boat
The take and giving means no room for the living
And some of you think it loves and lovers
Death in one corner, use suspense in the other
I know that when it's over we'll be holding one another
We only ever wanted to feel you
Two years of taction only teaches you to fight
We only ever wanted to try
I'll raise a glass to the and no one else's fool
Raise some question to the rule who says you'd have to lose a love to find one
Take the things you don't respect and I will miss them
To features night into one
That says you have to lose a love to find one
I know that when it's over we'll be holding one another
We only ever wanted to feel you
Two years of taction only teaches you to fight
We only ever wanted to try
I'm around, I'm around, I'm ok, I'm ok
I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm insane, I'm insane
We are, yeah, we are, we are
We are just sinking for something
With our hands, and our fists, muscles, skin, thumb, and bone
We never grew up, we were cut from the stone
That holds your body and soul
We are all just sinking for something
Lyrics submitted by sillymofo15, edited by solvent_d
Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © O/B/O DistroKid
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Sensitivetofate's lyrics sound right on to me. I think part of the song's about a relationship gone wrong, some of it's about finding love, and a lot of the beginning seems to be about illfated war, like "To a land of angry soil, it swallows boys and coughs up men."