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.
You say that I'm a bigot. No sir! No sir!
I have lots of swishy friends around, I do, I do-dah-do
But a bunch of those together
Can only do the Devil's work, and it's the Devil's work they do
Finding beauty in ugly things is alright...to a point!
And have you seen that cross-breed of the high-brow and the low?
It's a note tied to a brick that reads:
Freedom, foul freedom, we are free to foul whatever, and we will
Why can't these people see? Theirs is a life of mimicry
They are fathers without sons or daughters
They are bathers at the mouth of a literary delta
It isn't poetry
It's an orchestration, orchestration of their own demise
And you'll call me a bigot, or a dog in the manger
But I've seen them in the commons with their kerchiefs and tattoos
And a bunch of those together
Can only do the Devil's work, and it's the Devil's work they do
I have lots of swishy friends around, I do, I do-dah-do
But a bunch of those together
Can only do the Devil's work, and it's the Devil's work they do
Finding beauty in ugly things is alright...to a point!
And have you seen that cross-breed of the high-brow and the low?
It's a note tied to a brick that reads:
Freedom, foul freedom, we are free to foul whatever, and we will
Why can't these people see? Theirs is a life of mimicry
They are fathers without sons or daughters
They are bathers at the mouth of a literary delta
It isn't poetry
It's an orchestration, orchestration of their own demise
And you'll call me a bigot, or a dog in the manger
But I've seen them in the commons with their kerchiefs and tattoos
And a bunch of those together
Can only do the Devil's work, and it's the Devil's work they do
Lyrics submitted by VivaLasVegas
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!
althoguh, re-reading, i almsot think this might be the perspective of some sort of wayward saint. like a man who was God before Owen was.