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 met a girl on Halloween
When she was lost, and I was drunk
And it was dark and cold out when we left
And as we walked the rain started
The leaves softened with every step
And all around us people slept alone with their dreams
The wind came down from up the planes
And blew the leaves all through the streets
I wondered how far leaves could really fly
Would they rest in suburb yards
Or make it to the city
Or would they end up in the river just to float away
She pointed to a small brick house
And said it was where she grew up
The lights were out, she asked if we could stop for awhile
Her hair was still just getting wet
The water running down her neck
Collecting in the hand print in cement beneath her feet
Apparently there'd been a death
Someone close and nothing left
Because she hadn't left him in the end
I saw her blush when I asked
If she always talked like that
She said it only happened when she drank
And later on I felt her hand
Slipping into my cold fist
She promised me a kiss as soon as we got home
Her costume had begun to tear
She ran ahead and turned to me
Her laughter echoed through the empty streets
When she was lost, and I was drunk
And it was dark and cold out when we left
And as we walked the rain started
The leaves softened with every step
And all around us people slept alone with their dreams
The wind came down from up the planes
And blew the leaves all through the streets
I wondered how far leaves could really fly
Would they rest in suburb yards
Or make it to the city
Or would they end up in the river just to float away
She pointed to a small brick house
And said it was where she grew up
The lights were out, she asked if we could stop for awhile
Her hair was still just getting wet
The water running down her neck
Collecting in the hand print in cement beneath her feet
Apparently there'd been a death
Someone close and nothing left
Because she hadn't left him in the end
I saw her blush when I asked
If she always talked like that
She said it only happened when she drank
And later on I felt her hand
Slipping into my cold fist
She promised me a kiss as soon as we got home
Her costume had begun to tear
She ran ahead and turned to me
Her laughter echoed through the empty streets
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When I die and go to heaven, I hope my entry sounds like the beginning of this song.