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.
Working man's day wage, just piss it away
Leaves it out in the weather
Failure, he said, times two breeds contempt
Wash your hands of it forever
Violence, it ripped through the old dogwood fence
See the hope, see it unravel
Drunk brother said he could reason with them
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
The picture was left on the front porch, well that's it
I love you, don't you ever think of me?
My body knows there's a hell with my soul
We don't even know the difference
The dead folks in the clouds, for crying out loud
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
And why, did we live so long?
So long
So long
The house is not the same since we left it that day
Old friends seem to wonder
Our parents had cigarettes, wedding bells
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
And why, did we live so long?
So long
So long
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
Oh
Leaves it out in the weather
Failure, he said, times two breeds contempt
Wash your hands of it forever
Violence, it ripped through the old dogwood fence
See the hope, see it unravel
Drunk brother said he could reason with them
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
The picture was left on the front porch, well that's it
I love you, don't you ever think of me?
My body knows there's a hell with my soul
We don't even know the difference
The dead folks in the clouds, for crying out loud
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
And why, did we live so long?
So long
So long
The house is not the same since we left it that day
Old friends seem to wonder
Our parents had cigarettes, wedding bells
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
And why, did we live so long?
So long
So long
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied
Oh
Lyrics submitted by Yeahdand, edited by justasjeff
Cigarettes, Wedding Bands Lyrics as written by Creighton ; Barrett Benjamin Bridwell
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
Jesse with the long hair....
Robert Earl Keen, Jr.
Robert Earl Keen, Jr.
Classic love story true to his western tx roots. One of my favorites as a story, but I think there are alot of songs that are amazing not even listed on this site. I guess I should figure out how to add them, because I have about 8 REK cd's.
Spirit Within
Bertoldi Brothers
Bertoldi Brothers
Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
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.
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.
I think this is how it goes.
"The working man's day, we just piss it away. We sit out in the weather. Familiar," he said, "times do breed contempt. Wash you hands of it forever."
The violence, it ripped through the old dogwood fence. See the whole scene unravel. The drunk brother said he could reason with them...
While they lie tonight, they lie tonight, while they lie. 2x
The picture was left on the front porch. The back said, "I love him, don't you ever think of me. If my body goes, then to Hell with my soul. We don't even know the difference."
The dead folks in the clouds are crying out loud...
While they lie tonight, they lie tonight, while they lie. 2x
"And why did we live so long?"
Long 2x
The house, not the same since we left it that day. Old friends seem to wander. In our parents' hands, cigarettes, wedding bands...
While they lie tonight, they lie tonight while they lie. 2x
And why did we live so long?
Long 2x
While they lie tonight, they lie tonight, while they lie 3x
Oh...
And now, my analysis. The whole song outlines a marriage that's on the rocks with the parnets probably only staying together because of the kids or for religious reasons.
In the first part, you hear the father speaking, saying that even though life isn't necessarily hard on them he's getting bored with life as it is and he and his wife are growing apart. I believe the husband threatens the wife with divorce when he says, "Wash your hands of it forever." (Husbands out there, never say the D word. It can cause a lot of emotional damage even if you don't mean it.)
This is followed by a fight out in the yard. The violence mentioned in this song isn't necessarily physical but I believe that's what it's speaking of when "it ripped through the old dogwood fence". The kids may have been on the other side of the fence listening to the fight, and it "ripped" emotionally from the kids overheaing the fight. The older (presumably) older brother is drunk, but he tries to break up the fight.
The chorus is cool, because the word, "lie", has a double meaning. They lie while they are lying in bed, basically. A man and woman sleeping together is supposed to be symbolic of love, but the parents don't love eachother.
I believe the next verse is talking about an affair the wife is having. She leaves a picture of the guy she's cheating with, with a note on the back. The wife has gotten to a point of not caring about whatever religious reasons they had for staying together.
While they were together, it was destructive to the kids for them to be arguing all the time, but this is just as bad when one parent suddenly decides to leave on bad terms. this is why "the dead folks in the clouds are crying out loud".
After the split, their lie is that this is somehow better, but the kids are still being hurt by all of their problems.
This is followed by the question, "Why did we live so long?"
This is a powerful song, because even those who haven't these types of isssues at home know what it feels like to think that their life is just dragging on with no hope for a better tomorrow. Somehow a song like this brings some comfort when you realize that there are people who know what you're going through.
Any young people being affected by this, call 1-800-HIT-HOME
God bless, Nemamiah
thanks Nemamiah, your post made the song a lot more clear to me. it's prob my fav BoH song now =)
I'm so late in responding. Just found this site. But I think you're close as hell. I think this song is just a bit more judgmental on all adults -- wrt to his childhood -- as opposed to one parental event. And I think it's darker. More is happening than one fight. And the violence by the fence is diff from the parental fights, which I agree is happening. It seems to me that it's more like what would happen as a result of multiple-parental neglect -- a fight amongst the kids or something worse. <br /> <br /> In my opinion, it's "while they lie-dy-died, they lie-dy-died, while they died." And what they died from is .. well, denial of all sorts. The most obvious being cigarette smoking. But we grew up in it, eh? There were whole dimensions of denial one could spread out in at the time. And lots of room for fuckupedness in family relations.
@Nemamiah I finally found you, I had a stupid friend with whom I talked about interpretations and meanings of music. I created an account here to contact you and ask if you have ever heard of a forró band called Desejo de Menina? I admit that, except for this detail, our ideas hit exactly the same points, but my motivation to write to you, was the fact that this friend offended me with a suggestion, when he knows so well that what I hate most in this world are copies.<br /> I just wanted to thank you, after all my ideas seem to make sense now after reading yours. Big hug.
@Anaiza3durval I haven't heard of them, but I'll check them out. I'm surprised by getting a response to this twelve years after the fact, but I hope my take helped you somehow.
@Nemamiah Sir, i do not think that this type of music i mentioned is your style rsrsrs Know that your interpretation was important to mature my ideas, in short, i commented on pure impulse and in fact i did not expect you to answer me .-. Obrigada
The working man's day, we just piss it away We sit out in the weather "Familiar", he said Time soon breeds contempt Wash your hands of it forever Violence, it ripped through the old dogwood fence See the whole scene unravel Your drunk brother said he could reason with them While they lied at night
And the picture was the left on the front porch The back said, "I love you, don't you ever think of me?" If my body goes, then to hell with my soul We don't even know the difference The dead folks in the clouds, for crying out loud While they lied at night And why can we live so long?
The house not the same since we left it that day Old friends seem to wander But our parents' hands: cigarettes, wedding bands While they lied at night.
I think the song is generally about a parent's failed marriage, and consequently a child who's grown to fear/loathe relationships, or at least become very cynical. The beginning lines could refer to simply walking through life, going through life without much care "pissing it away.". The line "we sit out in the weather" could refer to being dead, buried in the ground. Weather the line is "failure" or "familiar," either way it sounds like a father's advice to his child, don't get too close to someone, wash your hands of familiarity. I really like the line, "Violence it ripped through the old dogwood fence, See the whole scene unravel." The "old dogwood fence" is the antithesis of a white picket fence. The family wasn't perfectly happy, there was dysfunction and things unraveled. I think the song then takes a turn into questioning faith, which is obvious with my favorite line "But dead folks in the clouds, for crying out loud." Also, the repetition of the lines "they lied at night" seems to discuss hypocrisy or dishonesty despite what was preached. His parents were lying at night, lying next to one another despite their failing relationship. I wonder if the line "our parents' hands: cigarettes, wedding bands" is equating cigarettes and wedding bands. The cigarettes signifying a sort of silent, slow killer. Smoking is a danger, yet people continue years upon years and it wears on them, much like a bad marriage? Overall just a great song
I think the repeating line might be: While they lied at night, they lied at night, while they lied.
i think it's
Violence it ripped through the old dogwood fence See the hole, see no gravel
and...
The house is not the same since we left it that day Old friends seem to wander On our parents' hands, cigarettes, wedding bands
Upon further listening I think it's
"See the whole scene unravel"
Also...
The picture was left on the front porch, the back said "I love you, don't you ever think of me?"
I thought the line was, "If my body goes, then to hell with my soul" -- but maybe that's just because that would be a cool lyric.
Going by the corrections and what I hear, here's a revised version:
Working man's day, we just piss it away We sit out in the weather
"Familiar," he said, times two breeds contempt Wash your hands of it forever
Violence it ripped through the old dogwood fence See the whole scene unravel
Drunk brother said he could reason with them While they lie-de-die, they lie-de-die, while they lie.
The picture was left on the front porch, the back said "I love you, don't you ever think of me?"
If my body goes, then to hell with my soul We don't even know the difference
But dead folks in the clouds, for crying out loud! While they lie-de-die, they lie-de-die, while they lie.
And why, did we live so long Long x 2
The house is not the same since we left it that day Old friends seem to wander Our parents hands: cigarettes, wedding bands While they lie-de-die, they lie-de-die, while they lie.
And why, did we live so long Long x 2
While they lie-de-die, they lie-de-die, while they lie.
Oh....
The "for crying out loud!" line gives me chills, too. Crazy good.
crap,
But dead folks in the clouds? For crying out loud!
Seems more contextually correct.
I think this song is one of the most underrated BOH songs. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's my favorite. Also, I disagree with the lyrics in respect to the current line "failure, he said, times two breeds contempt." In this case, I believe TooFresh's line is correct when he says "firmiliar, he said, times two breeds contempt." This makes alot more sense, and possibly is a reference to a quote contributed to Aesop: "Firmiliarity breeds contempt." In essence, this means that the more you get to know something the more it bothers you.