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.
I remember when, when I first moved here,
A long time ago,
'cause I heard some song I used to hear back then,
A lone time ago.
I remember when, even further back,
In another town,
'cause I saw something written I used to say back then,
Hard to comprehend
And the question is, was I more alive
Then than I am now?
I happily have to disagree;
I laugh more often now, I cry more often now,
I am more me.
But of cause some days, I just lie around
And hardly exist,
And can't tell apart what I'm eating
From my hand or my wrist.
'cause flesh is flesh, flesh as flesh as flesh,
The difference is thin.
But life has a certain ability or breathing new
Life into me,
So I breathe it in.
It says here we are, and we all are here,
And you still can make sense,
If you just show up and present an honest face,
Instead of that grin.
And the other day, this new friend of mine
Said something to me
"just because something starts differently,
Doesn't mean it's worth less."
And I soaked it in, how I soaked it in,
How I soaked it in
And just as to prove how right he was,
Then you came.
So I'm gonna give, yes I'm gonna give,
I'm gonna give you a try,
So I'm gonna give, yes I'm gonna give,
I'm gonna give you a try
A long time ago,
'cause I heard some song I used to hear back then,
A lone time ago.
I remember when, even further back,
In another town,
'cause I saw something written I used to say back then,
Hard to comprehend
And the question is, was I more alive
Then than I am now?
I happily have to disagree;
I laugh more often now, I cry more often now,
I am more me.
But of cause some days, I just lie around
And hardly exist,
And can't tell apart what I'm eating
From my hand or my wrist.
'cause flesh is flesh, flesh as flesh as flesh,
The difference is thin.
But life has a certain ability or breathing new
Life into me,
So I breathe it in.
It says here we are, and we all are here,
And you still can make sense,
If you just show up and present an honest face,
Instead of that grin.
And the other day, this new friend of mine
Said something to me
"just because something starts differently,
Doesn't mean it's worth less."
And I soaked it in, how I soaked it in,
How I soaked it in
And just as to prove how right he was,
Then you came.
So I'm gonna give, yes I'm gonna give,
I'm gonna give you a try,
So I'm gonna give, yes I'm gonna give,
I'm gonna give you a try
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"But of course some days, I just lie around And hardly exist, And can't tell apart what I'm eating From my hand or my wrist. 'Cause flesh is flesh, flesh is flesh is flesh, The difference is thin. But life has a certain ability of breathing new life into me, So I breathe it in. It says here we are, and we all are here, And it still can make sense, If you just show up and present an honest face, Instead of that grin."
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