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.
It's to reveal that fucked up cop
Amped up on prescription pills
That brought my heart to a stop
And I want to tell you there's a riot coming
Like a drug in the water
A punch in the stomach makes sons into daughters
I met a girl on the square
Who showed me how to kill my cares
But once that's done, man, there's nothing to do
Time's running backwards from me and you
There's a riot coming
Like a drug in the water
A punch in the stomach makes sons into daughters
My body's running but I don't see why it bothers
Sat down in jail with this friend of mine
Who'd never close both his eyes
But one was shut all the time
To cover the thing he was scared of
While he watched with the other
There was a riot coming
Like a drug in the water
A punch in the stomach makes sons into daughters
There's a riot coming
There's a riot coming
There's a riot coming
Amped up on prescription pills
That brought my heart to a stop
And I want to tell you there's a riot coming
Like a drug in the water
A punch in the stomach makes sons into daughters
I met a girl on the square
Who showed me how to kill my cares
But once that's done, man, there's nothing to do
Time's running backwards from me and you
There's a riot coming
Like a drug in the water
A punch in the stomach makes sons into daughters
My body's running but I don't see why it bothers
Sat down in jail with this friend of mine
Who'd never close both his eyes
But one was shut all the time
To cover the thing he was scared of
While he watched with the other
There was a riot coming
Like a drug in the water
A punch in the stomach makes sons into daughters
There's a riot coming
There's a riot coming
There's a riot coming
Lyrics submitted by paper bag writer
Riot Coming Lyrics as written by Steven Paul Smith
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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i love this song.