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.
A peculiar thing happened to me this morning
Just as I reached into my pocket to find it empty of any sou
I saw two broken twigs on the ground
Shaped like the Greek letters "F" and "S"
"F" and "S", Helium, "F" and "S"
These are the chemical symbols for Iron and Sulfur
It was a sign, I'm sure, for me to make gold from these two elements
I have been working all day
Over these hellish flames
Locked in his bedroom
He saw the world
A web of answers
And cumshot girls
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Don't bother blaming
His games and guns
He's only playing
And boys just want to have fun
He picked a soundtrack
And packed his bag
He hung his Walkman
Around his neck
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
It's so simple
The way they fall
No cry, no whimper
No sound at all
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick
Boom
Just as I reached into my pocket to find it empty of any sou
I saw two broken twigs on the ground
Shaped like the Greek letters "F" and "S"
"F" and "S", Helium, "F" and "S"
These are the chemical symbols for Iron and Sulfur
It was a sign, I'm sure, for me to make gold from these two elements
I have been working all day
Over these hellish flames
Locked in his bedroom
He saw the world
A web of answers
And cumshot girls
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Don't bother blaming
His games and guns
He's only playing
And boys just want to have fun
He picked a soundtrack
And packed his bag
He hung his Walkman
Around his neck
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
It's so simple
The way they fall
No cry, no whimper
No sound at all
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick
Boom
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I think the sound clip at the start is a metaphor for the shooter. The narrator sees some broken twigs and connects dots that aren't there, making the large leap that he is destined to make gold from sulphur and iron.
The shooter is someone who sat all day on his computer, thinking he was seeing the world, but really just seeing the internet. We all know how people can act on the internet, the world could seem like an inhospitable place, and because no one ever reached out to the guy why shouldn't he come to that conclusion? Like the narrator in the sound clip at the start he connects dots that aren't there, but it's not entirely his fault, society is to blame as well.