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.
It's a brush fire spreading, feeding as it moves
It's a disappeared glacier; it's the airborne flu
It's your disbelieving eyes logging concrete miles
It's your yawning conscience and your lawyer's smile
It's an occupied country foaming at the mouth
No smoking gun, no mushroom cloud
It's a military mother with a boy in hell
And it's a flag-draped casket down an oil well
It's an Argentine school-girl gagged and bound
It's a torture camp; it's a long way down
It's the constant bracing shock of now
And it's the whole damn world turned inside out, alright
It's a march to extinction with your god in step
It's his name in your mouth; it's his cross on your neck
It's a farm boy sprinting over desert dirt
And he's panting the 'Our Father' in staccato spurts
Now that's his automatic rifle and it tells no lies
It's his truth in your stomach, it's no alibi
But the trouble lies on the other side
With an equal truth prepping for his holy night
He sees the crescent and the star blink in the virgin sky
And hears the call of milk and honey from the afterlife
And as he eases to the checkpoint, he is calm and sure
It's collateral damage; it's the cost of war
It's another bag of bones for the Gods to sort
It's just another bag of bones for the Gods to sort
Well it's a species disappearing, all the birds fly south
In a January heatwave, in a pulsing crowd
It's an African Militia, kids with sub-machines
It's a conflict diamond on your bride-to-be
It's the dispossessed lining up at every gate
It's the facts worth facing, faced way too late
It's the mission of modernity, go get what's yours
Til there's nothing leftover to go get no more
And it's not what we're owed, but it's what we've earned
And it's closer than we realise, and it's time now to burn
And oh it's time now to burn
And oh it's time now to burn
And oh it's time now to burn, to burn
It's a disappeared glacier; it's the airborne flu
It's your disbelieving eyes logging concrete miles
It's your yawning conscience and your lawyer's smile
It's an occupied country foaming at the mouth
No smoking gun, no mushroom cloud
It's a military mother with a boy in hell
And it's a flag-draped casket down an oil well
It's an Argentine school-girl gagged and bound
It's a torture camp; it's a long way down
It's the constant bracing shock of now
And it's the whole damn world turned inside out, alright
It's a march to extinction with your god in step
It's his name in your mouth; it's his cross on your neck
It's a farm boy sprinting over desert dirt
And he's panting the 'Our Father' in staccato spurts
Now that's his automatic rifle and it tells no lies
It's his truth in your stomach, it's no alibi
But the trouble lies on the other side
With an equal truth prepping for his holy night
He sees the crescent and the star blink in the virgin sky
And hears the call of milk and honey from the afterlife
And as he eases to the checkpoint, he is calm and sure
It's collateral damage; it's the cost of war
It's another bag of bones for the Gods to sort
It's just another bag of bones for the Gods to sort
Well it's a species disappearing, all the birds fly south
In a January heatwave, in a pulsing crowd
It's an African Militia, kids with sub-machines
It's a conflict diamond on your bride-to-be
It's the dispossessed lining up at every gate
It's the facts worth facing, faced way too late
It's the mission of modernity, go get what's yours
Til there's nothing leftover to go get no more
And it's not what we're owed, but it's what we've earned
And it's closer than we realise, and it's time now to burn
And oh it's time now to burn
And oh it's time now to burn
And oh it's time now to burn, to burn
Lyrics submitted by jayded walker, edited by robbeh118
Another Bag of Bones Lyrics as written by Kevin Patrick Devine
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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So...I feel like there are two ways to look at this. Either every one of those examples is just a big-picture look at messed-up stuff in the world, or they're all pointing to global warming.
I know it sounds kinda hokey. But hear me out.
First, we have the obvious ones, like a glacier disappearing and a heat wave in January.
Then, we get into the less obvious ones, like a farmer boy sprinting over desert dirt, kids with submachines, facts worth facing faced way too late and the mission of modernity. It could all be talking about the unseen effects of global warming, like how the Darfur genocide has been linked with droughts and stuff.
this is great, he never ceases to amaze me; the shape of the lyrics is very simple, but the impact of the words themselves is very powerful
amazing.
probably one of his strongest songs lyrically..
i just saw him in buffalo last night and there was about 30 people there, and we all sat around him on the stage, one of the best shows i've ever been to.
I think the correct line is "it's the constant bracing shock of now". Think that makes a bit more sense. But the song kicks me in the teeth each time I listen. Can't wait for the 7' to drop this month.
youtube.com/watch
Plus he wears the sickest hoodie ever in the video.
Argentina needs to be changed to Argentine.
Also, this song is amazing. I can't get enough, and I want him to release a full length soon. I'm excited to hear what Procrastinate! has in store for us.
"It’s a march to extinction with your god in step It’s his name in your mouth, it’s his cross on your neck It’s a farm boy sprinting over desert dirt And he’s panting the ‘Our Father’ in staccato spurts"
my god.. that's incredible.
i believe it's ... " the constant bracing shock of now."
but yeah. best thing kevin has done in a long time. quite relevant.
it's "argentine school girl". he's talking about a girl from argentina. like the way you're from american. you're an american person. so. yeah.
and it is also "the constant bracing shock of now".
america*
Genius.
Song is self explanatory... yet so impactful. I love artists who speak the truth.