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 know this sounds absurd,
but this is what I heard
I know you must be lonely
Underneath, you're insecure
but you can rest asured
I know you're not the only
It's always such a shame
To slander your own name
In a struggle to survive
You're everyone's best friend
You're abandoned in the end
And you never felt alive
It's hard to climb a waterfall
I never realized
That there's a part inside us all
That tumbles from the sky
When we watch a dreamer die
Do you remember when
All of this began,
And you never turned around?
It must be hard to find again
The place where you had been
When you finally hit the ground
And everyone believes
And no one ever sees
Your struggle to survive
And no one understands
Who's there to hold your hand
When you fight to stay alive
It's hard to climb a waterfall
I never realized
That there's a part inside us all
That tumbles from the sky
When we watch a dreamer die
And I don't ever want to
Well, I don't ever want to
I don't ever want to die like you
but this is what I heard
I know you must be lonely
Underneath, you're insecure
but you can rest asured
I know you're not the only
It's always such a shame
To slander your own name
In a struggle to survive
You're everyone's best friend
You're abandoned in the end
And you never felt alive
It's hard to climb a waterfall
I never realized
That there's a part inside us all
That tumbles from the sky
When we watch a dreamer die
Do you remember when
All of this began,
And you never turned around?
It must be hard to find again
The place where you had been
When you finally hit the ground
And everyone believes
And no one ever sees
Your struggle to survive
And no one understands
Who's there to hold your hand
When you fight to stay alive
It's hard to climb a waterfall
I never realized
That there's a part inside us all
That tumbles from the sky
When we watch a dreamer die
And I don't ever want to
Well, I don't ever want to
I don't ever want to die like you
Lyrics submitted by so.in.love
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