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.
In this age of rapid change,
We've got so many new strains of the man-made pain.
We've got the stress, the pressure and duress,
Neuroses and psychoses in clinical tests,
Got the prescription for children's Ritalin -
And it's risen 700% in a five year period.
That's a serious invasion of mental terrain.
You've got a nation of slightly sedated brains
That have been raised up on television,
Have been propped up and forced to watch it
Since they was infants.
Feed them the multiple edits per second
Then wonder why they grow up with "attention deficit"?
Let's be correct: this is not an illness,
It's a reaction to the state that their world's in
And, just as sure as their brains've been fucked,
Ain't no drug out there that'll cover that shit up.
Hole in your soul.
Nothin' gonna fill the hole in your soul.
Nothin' gonna fill the hole in your soul.
Nothin' gonna fill the hole
That gets in your soul,
Gets in your soul,
Gets in your soul,
Gets in your soul,
Gets in your soul.
Happiness now comes in a tablet.
We got all the pills and caplets
That'll keep you from snapping and from flipping
When the stress gets to you, fucks with you.
Got the symptoms? They got a prescription:
These pharmaceuticals that will cure the blues
Of the suburban subdivision-livin' businessmen and women,
Pills that'll fill in the holes in the souls of millions
When just living has got you wired, yeah,
Over-stimuli'd so much in your ears and in your eyes
That you're prescribed,
It's designed to smooth the edges and
Get you off the ledges and
Back in the yard trimming the hedges.
Yeah, what an invention! What a useful tool!
'Cause, as the world falls to pieces at least we'll be keeping our cool
Taking so many drugs to cover up for living within such a sinful culture.
Hole in your soul.
Nothin' gonna fill the hole in your soul.
Nothin' gonna fill the hole in your soul.
Nothin' gonna fill the hole
That gets in your soul,
Gets in your soul,
Gets in your soul,
Gets in your soul,
Gets in your soul.
We've got so many new strains of the man-made pain.
We've got the stress, the pressure and duress,
Neuroses and psychoses in clinical tests,
Got the prescription for children's Ritalin -
And it's risen 700% in a five year period.
That's a serious invasion of mental terrain.
You've got a nation of slightly sedated brains
That have been raised up on television,
Have been propped up and forced to watch it
Since they was infants.
Feed them the multiple edits per second
Then wonder why they grow up with "attention deficit"?
Let's be correct: this is not an illness,
It's a reaction to the state that their world's in
And, just as sure as their brains've been fucked,
Ain't no drug out there that'll cover that shit up.
Hole in your soul.
Nothin' gonna fill the hole in your soul.
Nothin' gonna fill the hole in your soul.
Nothin' gonna fill the hole
That gets in your soul,
Gets in your soul,
Gets in your soul,
Gets in your soul,
Gets in your soul.
Happiness now comes in a tablet.
We got all the pills and caplets
That'll keep you from snapping and from flipping
When the stress gets to you, fucks with you.
Got the symptoms? They got a prescription:
These pharmaceuticals that will cure the blues
Of the suburban subdivision-livin' businessmen and women,
Pills that'll fill in the holes in the souls of millions
When just living has got you wired, yeah,
Over-stimuli'd so much in your ears and in your eyes
That you're prescribed,
It's designed to smooth the edges and
Get you off the ledges and
Back in the yard trimming the hedges.
Yeah, what an invention! What a useful tool!
'Cause, as the world falls to pieces at least we'll be keeping our cool
Taking so many drugs to cover up for living within such a sinful culture.
Hole in your soul.
Nothin' gonna fill the hole in your soul.
Nothin' gonna fill the hole in your soul.
Nothin' gonna fill the hole
That gets in your soul,
Gets in your soul,
Gets in your soul,
Gets in your soul,
Gets in your soul.
Lyrics submitted by a scar in the sky
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!