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.
One hand on this wily comet
Take a drink just to give me some weight
Some uber-man I'd make
I'm barely a vapor
They shone a chlorine light on
A host of individual sins
Let's carve my aging face off
Fetch us a knife
Start with my eyes
Down so the lines
Form a grimacing smile
Close your eyes to corral a virtue
Is this fooling anyone else?
Never worked so long and hard
To cement a failure
We can blow on our thumbs and posture
But the lonely are such delicate things
The wind from a wasp could blow them
Into the sea
With stones on their feet
Lost to the light and the loving we need
Still to come
The worst part and you know it
There is a numbness
In your heart and it's growing
With burnt sage and a forest of bygones
I click my heels
Get the devils in line
A list of things I could lay the blame on
Might give me a way out
But with each turn
It's this front and center
Like a dart stuck square in your eye
Every post you can hitch your faith on
Is a pie in the sky
Chock full of lies
A tool we devise
To make sinking stones fly
And still to come
The worst part and you know it
There is a numbness
In your heart and it's growing
Take a drink just to give me some weight
Some uber-man I'd make
I'm barely a vapor
They shone a chlorine light on
A host of individual sins
Let's carve my aging face off
Fetch us a knife
Start with my eyes
Down so the lines
Form a grimacing smile
Close your eyes to corral a virtue
Is this fooling anyone else?
Never worked so long and hard
To cement a failure
We can blow on our thumbs and posture
But the lonely are such delicate things
The wind from a wasp could blow them
Into the sea
With stones on their feet
Lost to the light and the loving we need
Still to come
The worst part and you know it
There is a numbness
In your heart and it's growing
With burnt sage and a forest of bygones
I click my heels
Get the devils in line
A list of things I could lay the blame on
Might give me a way out
But with each turn
It's this front and center
Like a dart stuck square in your eye
Every post you can hitch your faith on
Is a pie in the sky
Chock full of lies
A tool we devise
To make sinking stones fly
And still to come
The worst part and you know it
There is a numbness
In your heart and it's growing
Lyrics submitted by heyheyhey111, edited by stainlesspork
A Comet Appears Lyrics as written by James Mercer
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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i haven't read any of the other comments so sorry if i repeat anything
"One hand on this wily comet, Take a drink just to give me some weight, Some uber-man I'd make, I'm barely a vapor"
this is a sum up of his life, he has something going (the comet) but that doesn't give him any more value. he takes the drink to make himself feel better. i think in this situation the comet is the band
"They shone a chlorine light on, A host of individual sins, Let's carve my aging face off, Fetch us a knife, Start with my eyes, Down so the lines, Form a grimacing smile,"
i thought of the joker when i first read this, he isn't really happy at all so someone will carve it into his face because he's never really happy. and maybe the light part is about how he sees everything he's done wrong and this is the only way he'll smile. i nkow there's deeper meaning i just haven't quite figured it out. now i'm going to be up all night thinking about it......
"Close your eyes to corral a virtue, Is this fooling anyone else? Never worked so long and hard, To cement a failure,"
i think this is pretty self explanatory aqnd a really powerful line as well
"We can blow on our thumbs and posture, But the lonely is such delicate things, The wind from a wasp could blow them, Into the sea, With stones on their feet, Lost to the light and the loving we need," so you know how in the old cartoons th character could just blow on his thumb and be completely better? well i think that's what he's referring to, except the people who are doing that are very fragile afterward, barely holding on. i think he is talking about depressed people. say one wrong thing and they might commit suicide.
"Still to come, The worst part and you know it, There is a numbness, In your heart and it's growing,"
i love this because i have been depressed and i have also felt completely numb and i would honestly rather feel everything than nothing
"With burnt sage and a forest of bygones, I click my heels, Get the devils in line, A list of things I could lay the blame on, Might give me a way out,"
clicks his heels to go home and each bad thing he did was when he felt most at home. and the last two lines are self explanatory
"But with each turn, It's this front and center, Like a dart stuck square in your eye, Every post you can hitch your faith on, Is a pie in the sky, Chock full of lies, A tool we devise, To make sinking stones fly,"
i haven't fully comprehended this part, but i think the pie part is talking about demons dressing as angels. so many of us do that!