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.
Child-soldier children
From the soldier rebellion,
These children rebel again.
Waiting for airships that never arrive,
With crosses on suitcases, novelty knives,
They aimlessly wander the beach all that day.
Eventually most of them shuffled away.
A matchbox bears my picture.
It details the reward for my capture.
“Not one person here has helped me.”
Reads the caption under my picture, see?
The young they are, the more fearless!
But they were betrayed by merchants who had offered them seven ships.
“We were maimed, tortured and kidnapped.
They cut off our ears, limbs and lips.”
Oh my dears, when they hear the news
That’s been written in tears,
They will know there’s no way to excuse
The lies that were used to force them to fight.
Then into their rag tag clothing
An officer sews.
He says, “This will make for victorious battles.
It is a magical stone.”
Emmanuele looks down at the ground
As he fumbles with the tassels on his boots.
He can still hear the sound
Of many rebel groups
Or the government militia.
Who he’d been fighting for,
No, no, he had no idea…
Child-soldier children
From the soldier rebellion,
These children rebel again.
Child-soldier children
From the soldier rebellion,
These children rebel again.
From the soldier rebellion,
These children rebel again.
Waiting for airships that never arrive,
With crosses on suitcases, novelty knives,
They aimlessly wander the beach all that day.
Eventually most of them shuffled away.
A matchbox bears my picture.
It details the reward for my capture.
“Not one person here has helped me.”
Reads the caption under my picture, see?
The young they are, the more fearless!
But they were betrayed by merchants who had offered them seven ships.
“We were maimed, tortured and kidnapped.
They cut off our ears, limbs and lips.”
Oh my dears, when they hear the news
That’s been written in tears,
They will know there’s no way to excuse
The lies that were used to force them to fight.
Then into their rag tag clothing
An officer sews.
He says, “This will make for victorious battles.
It is a magical stone.”
Emmanuele looks down at the ground
As he fumbles with the tassels on his boots.
He can still hear the sound
Of many rebel groups
Or the government militia.
Who he’d been fighting for,
No, no, he had no idea…
Child-soldier children
From the soldier rebellion,
These children rebel again.
Child-soldier children
From the soldier rebellion,
These children rebel again.
Lyrics submitted by boneyardsorceress
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Ave Grave
Thee More Shallows
Thee More Shallows
Battle Royale
Word Alive, The
Word Alive, The
This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
Techno Ted
Audioslave
Audioslave
Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
It may partially have to do with child-soldier rebellion, but the part where she sings, "Then into their rag tag clothing An officer sews. He says, “This will make for victorious battles. It is a magical stone.” I think may also have something to do with the continuing problem in africa regarding the diamond minds and the torture that the miners are put through.