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.
Circles 'round the moon,
is this why city lights feel so awful?
It should be unlawful
to live where you can't see the stars.
Hundreds of miles away we draw the
same lines to conclusions.
There's no need for confusion
if we all throw in a towel.
But, down the street from here
there's a forest and a lake
I go there when my brain's too full
to try to break down, un-complicate.
To try to interpret the things
we said in letters and phone calls.
Not enough for us to tell,
how was your day?
Circles 'round the block,
is this how all my time gets wasted?
I don't think so,
but we tasted the night air
and now we just want more.
Thousand postcards later, we seem older but that's normal.
Our cars broke down
and its just too cold to hitchhike
to your door.
But, down the street from here there's a forest and a lake.
I go there when my brain's too full to try to break down, un-complicate.
To interpret the things we said
in letters and phone calls.
Not enough for us to tell,
how was your day?
Not enough for us to tell,
how was your day?
is this why city lights feel so awful?
It should be unlawful
to live where you can't see the stars.
Hundreds of miles away we draw the
same lines to conclusions.
There's no need for confusion
if we all throw in a towel.
But, down the street from here
there's a forest and a lake
I go there when my brain's too full
to try to break down, un-complicate.
To try to interpret the things
we said in letters and phone calls.
Not enough for us to tell,
how was your day?
Circles 'round the block,
is this how all my time gets wasted?
I don't think so,
but we tasted the night air
and now we just want more.
Thousand postcards later, we seem older but that's normal.
Our cars broke down
and its just too cold to hitchhike
to your door.
But, down the street from here there's a forest and a lake.
I go there when my brain's too full to try to break down, un-complicate.
To interpret the things we said
in letters and phone calls.
Not enough for us to tell,
how was your day?
Not enough for us to tell,
how was your day?
Lyrics submitted by speakerspeakerphone
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