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.
I think I'll go sit by the river
Just to get away for a while
Light jumping off of the water
And time in a line is swirling and swimming
Clouds rolling over themselves
Twisting and boiling and growing out of nothing
The hills bitten off at the edge
And the whispers and the tails running 'round
Running, running 'round
I think I'll go sit by the river
Just to get away for a while
And listen to the conversations
Eavesdropping on the whiskeyjacks and the waxwings
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle mask
Sunken to the rocks, plastic face half-buried
The stone bottom bumps out a rhythm
It sings the same song that it's always been singing
I think I'll go sit by the river
Just to get outside of my mind
I'm wishing I could stay here forever
But the river won't stay that long
It's moving on
I'm a shopping cart stuck on an island
Stranded in the middle getting tired and thirsty
Not really moving, just waiting
For this water to rise up again
And pull me along
Just to get away for a while
Light jumping off of the water
And time in a line is swirling and swimming
Clouds rolling over themselves
Twisting and boiling and growing out of nothing
The hills bitten off at the edge
And the whispers and the tails running 'round
Running, running 'round
I think I'll go sit by the river
Just to get away for a while
And listen to the conversations
Eavesdropping on the whiskeyjacks and the waxwings
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle mask
Sunken to the rocks, plastic face half-buried
The stone bottom bumps out a rhythm
It sings the same song that it's always been singing
I think I'll go sit by the river
Just to get outside of my mind
I'm wishing I could stay here forever
But the river won't stay that long
It's moving on
I'm a shopping cart stuck on an island
Stranded in the middle getting tired and thirsty
Not really moving, just waiting
For this water to rise up again
And pull me along
Lyrics submitted by naturalkinds
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bow river in calgary.
a river in an urban setting.