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 there's a cold wind blowin'
Hard rain is gonna fall
While old man Dillon laughs at our song
Now I'm feelin' all alone
And I'm cold and bare as stone
But it just doesn't matter
I can't stand it
Gonna die alone
Can't understand it anyhow
Was a time I felt like dyin'
Now I'm glad that time is gone
Cuz tonight we're gonna live forever on
And when I wrote this down
I was drinkin' all alone
But it just doesn't matter
I can't stand it
Gonna die alone
Can't understand it anyhow
Lookin' for a place I know
Ain't been there for so long
And I gotta back there
I can't stand it
Gonna die alone
Can't understand it anyhow oh
I can't stand it
Gonna die alone
Can't understand it anyhow oh
Hard rain is gonna fall
While old man Dillon laughs at our song
Now I'm feelin' all alone
And I'm cold and bare as stone
But it just doesn't matter
I can't stand it
Gonna die alone
Can't understand it anyhow
Was a time I felt like dyin'
Now I'm glad that time is gone
Cuz tonight we're gonna live forever on
And when I wrote this down
I was drinkin' all alone
But it just doesn't matter
I can't stand it
Gonna die alone
Can't understand it anyhow
Lookin' for a place I know
Ain't been there for so long
And I gotta back there
I can't stand it
Gonna die alone
Can't understand it anyhow oh
I can't stand it
Gonna die alone
Can't understand it anyhow oh
Lyrics submitted by boynamedgoo22
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Possibly one of the most brilliant Goo Goo Dolls songs ever. Really!
It's about depression, about being alone, and the lyrics are pretty straightforward about it. Being by yourself sucks, and sometimes it feels like you've got nowhere to go. The most frustrating thing is trying to understand it all.
But the brilliance in the song is the melody. The dynamic of the verses compared to the chorus really conveys the mix of discontent and anger that comes from the lyrics. The verses are very easy-going, as if the feelings being shared were irrelevant to everyone else. Once the chorus comes, the feelings turn to anger.
Amazing song. Should've been on Volume 2, and it needs to see the light of day at some point, because it's an absolute shame no one knows it.