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'm the grinderman
In the silver rain
In the pale moonlight
I am open late
Yes, I'm the grinderman
Seven days a week
In the pale moonlight
In the silver rain
I'm the grinderman
Any way I can
In the silver rain
In the pale moonlight
Yes, I'm the grinderman
Yes I am
In the silver rain
In the pale moonlight
I'm open late
Yes I'm the grinderman
Yes I am
In the silver rain
In the pale moonlight
I am open late
Yes I'm the grinderman
Yes I am
Yes I am, anyway I can
Yes I am
In the silver rain
In the pale moonlight
I am open late
Yes, I'm the grinderman
Seven days a week
In the pale moonlight
In the silver rain
I'm the grinderman
Any way I can
In the silver rain
In the pale moonlight
Yes, I'm the grinderman
Yes I am
In the silver rain
In the pale moonlight
I'm open late
Yes I'm the grinderman
Yes I am
In the silver rain
In the pale moonlight
I am open late
Yes I'm the grinderman
Yes I am
Yes I am, anyway I can
Yes I am
Lyrics submitted by smallwonderrobot
Grinderman Lyrics as written by Martyn Casey Jim Sclavunos
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Mute Song Limited
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I don't know if there is a meaning but the rythmic sound of this song is CRAZY!!!!! So haunting!!!! And the guitar at the end makes it even clearer and deeper... It makes me focus on everything at the same time. And you're right, it's like an everlasting movement that always comes back at the same point. A static movement! Maybe it's life, we're always moving and evolving in appearance, but deep inside, the core remains the same. It's like time and nature, the sun and the universe. A universal movement in which each movement of each element changes everything constantly both at a local scale and at a global scale. But in the end, it's still the same. It's a static circle made of moving circles... looks like a grinder, right?