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.
Oh, I want to know
How it feels when we die
Can you take me under?
Dream over, grieve no more
And I breathe one last time
Now I lay thee down
Oh, she watched me leave
Me bleeding on the floor
As she takes me under
Dream over, grieve no more
And I breathe one last time
Now I lay thee down
Oh, godless mimicry while lights cemetery
Flashes of the angel's ivory wings
Images so many broken dreams
Of pain, terror, fear crippling
Follow the light into the tunnel
Or will it end up in a black hole?
Follow the light into the tunnel, dead in its end
Was it lost? Was it murdered?
Within the eye of the beholder
Was it lost? Was it murdered?
Within the eye of the beholder
What have I done?
I've gone and killed
The only one I love
How could I do this?
I'm screaming at God
Why do you curse me?
Fuck it, loaded, sever the day
Dream over, grieve no more
And breathe one last time
Now I lay thee
Now I lay thee down, underground
How it feels when we die
Can you take me under?
Dream over, grieve no more
And I breathe one last time
Now I lay thee down
Oh, she watched me leave
Me bleeding on the floor
As she takes me under
Dream over, grieve no more
And I breathe one last time
Now I lay thee down
Oh, godless mimicry while lights cemetery
Flashes of the angel's ivory wings
Images so many broken dreams
Of pain, terror, fear crippling
Follow the light into the tunnel
Or will it end up in a black hole?
Follow the light into the tunnel, dead in its end
Was it lost? Was it murdered?
Within the eye of the beholder
Was it lost? Was it murdered?
Within the eye of the beholder
What have I done?
I've gone and killed
The only one I love
How could I do this?
I'm screaming at God
Why do you curse me?
Fuck it, loaded, sever the day
Dream over, grieve no more
And breathe one last time
Now I lay thee
Now I lay thee down, underground
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This is definately my 3rd favorite behind Clenching the Fists and Halo. I love this song. I agree with the "fucked up Romeo and Juliet" part, as I read it somewhere too.