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.
She got down on hands and knees, one ear against the ground,
Holding her breath to hear something, but the dirt made not a sound tonight
Echoes of songs still lurk on distant foreign shores, where we
Danced just to please the gods that only ask for more, so it goes
But still we give ourselves to this
We can't spend our lives waiting to live
On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn't what she wants
The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip
The postcard says wish you were here
But I'd rather I was there, holding
On to the simple things before they disappear, that's what I meant
But that was then, and this is now
I'll make it up to you somehow
On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn't what she wants
The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip
Our destination, a feint smile,
Another station, another mile,
Another day gone, I swear that I will
Be there before dawn, so be there I will
She got down on hands and knees, one ear against the ground,
Holding her breath to hear something, anything at all
The dirt whispered, "Child, I'm coming home."
On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn't what she wants
The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip
Holding her breath to hear something, but the dirt made not a sound tonight
Echoes of songs still lurk on distant foreign shores, where we
Danced just to please the gods that only ask for more, so it goes
But still we give ourselves to this
We can't spend our lives waiting to live
On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn't what she wants
The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip
The postcard says wish you were here
But I'd rather I was there, holding
On to the simple things before they disappear, that's what I meant
But that was then, and this is now
I'll make it up to you somehow
On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn't what she wants
The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip
Our destination, a feint smile,
Another station, another mile,
Another day gone, I swear that I will
Be there before dawn, so be there I will
She got down on hands and knees, one ear against the ground,
Holding her breath to hear something, anything at all
The dirt whispered, "Child, I'm coming home."
On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn't what she wants
The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip
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I agree with you wholeheartedly...
Punk is more than just the sound of the music. Its standing up for the brutal reality of this world and pointing it out to people who are too pussy to take the world for what it is and base their actions upon that.
But thats my veiw.