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 unearthed it's right beside us
Turn of cheek. Fade away (all in vain)
All in vain, so I look to you now
Did you know of their subtle grace?
And they'll dance for you when its cold
And they'll dance for you when it rains
Even when it rains
Warmth of touch, oh, what a treasure
And I feel its absence these days
And I yearn for something beautiful
Something natural, like you (like you)
And we'll dance, my eyes the rhythm
While you sway
And they'll dance for you when its cold
And they'll dance for you when it rains
And they'll dance for you when you're feeling unsure
And they'll dance for you when you're alone
I'm all alone
On the backs of silver wings, I'll glide, I'll soar
Find the seams, ascend, then worlds collide once more
I'm searching for my piece of light, it rains, it pours
I'll find my way but please don't leave me here again
All alone, again (such emotion)
And they'll dance for you when its cold (such emotion)
And they'll dance for you when it rains
And they'll dance for you when you're feeling unsure
And they'll dance for you when you're alone
Alone (so dance)
Say it again and again, the fallen lace
I bid you..
(So dance)
Say it again and again, the fallen lace
I bid you..
Coasting for you, coasting for you
(Where could you take me)
Coasting for you, coasting for you
(Where could you take me, wish you could take me)
As I drift alone
Coasting for you
But they're turning brown
Who will catch me now
Turn of cheek. Fade away (all in vain)
All in vain, so I look to you now
Did you know of their subtle grace?
And they'll dance for you when its cold
And they'll dance for you when it rains
Even when it rains
Warmth of touch, oh, what a treasure
And I feel its absence these days
And I yearn for something beautiful
Something natural, like you (like you)
And we'll dance, my eyes the rhythm
While you sway
And they'll dance for you when its cold
And they'll dance for you when it rains
And they'll dance for you when you're feeling unsure
And they'll dance for you when you're alone
I'm all alone
On the backs of silver wings, I'll glide, I'll soar
Find the seams, ascend, then worlds collide once more
I'm searching for my piece of light, it rains, it pours
I'll find my way but please don't leave me here again
All alone, again (such emotion)
And they'll dance for you when its cold (such emotion)
And they'll dance for you when it rains
And they'll dance for you when you're feeling unsure
And they'll dance for you when you're alone
Alone (so dance)
Say it again and again, the fallen lace
I bid you..
(So dance)
Say it again and again, the fallen lace
I bid you..
Coasting for you, coasting for you
(Where could you take me)
Coasting for you, coasting for you
(Where could you take me, wish you could take me)
As I drift alone
Coasting for you
But they're turning brown
Who will catch me now
Lyrics submitted by dejavula
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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Silent Planet
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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.