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.
To the ends of this lost world
You have marched and you have sworn
To a tainted crown of thorns
As the hungry sails unfurl
We are trusted from the shore
And it's you that we search for
The blackest night
The midnight sun
The covered tracks and days spent on the run
The strangers we've become
These whereabouts unknown
Please know you can come home
It's alright
I long for the moment
Our silence is broken
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright
Another place, another time
We toed the same side of the line
Yeah we saw eye to eye
Even then the saddest sounds,
Were nothing laughter could not drown
But we are not laughing now
I see your face
In my sights
I hesitate
And then look for a sign
Somewhere in the sky
These whereabouts unknown
Please know you can come home
It's alright
I long for the moment
Our silence is broken
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright
Even together, we stand apart
Swallow the sun, erase the sky
An invitation has been declined
Where did you go? Where did you go?
These whereabouts unknown
Please know you can come home
It's alright
I long for the moment
Our silence is broken
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright now
Oh, oh
It's alright now
'Cause all is forgiven
If you could just listen
It's alright
It's alright.
You have marched and you have sworn
To a tainted crown of thorns
As the hungry sails unfurl
We are trusted from the shore
And it's you that we search for
The blackest night
The midnight sun
The covered tracks and days spent on the run
The strangers we've become
These whereabouts unknown
Please know you can come home
It's alright
I long for the moment
Our silence is broken
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright
Another place, another time
We toed the same side of the line
Yeah we saw eye to eye
Even then the saddest sounds,
Were nothing laughter could not drown
But we are not laughing now
I see your face
In my sights
I hesitate
And then look for a sign
Somewhere in the sky
These whereabouts unknown
Please know you can come home
It's alright
I long for the moment
Our silence is broken
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright
Even together, we stand apart
Swallow the sun, erase the sky
An invitation has been declined
Where did you go? Where did you go?
These whereabouts unknown
Please know you can come home
It's alright
I long for the moment
Our silence is broken
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright now
Oh, oh
It's alright now
'Cause all is forgiven
If you could just listen
It's alright
It's alright.
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Ave Grave
Thee More Shallows
Thee More Shallows
Love in a Vacuum
'Til Tuesday
'Til Tuesday
Well, in my opinion this song is about being a young & maybe a little naive &/or introverted girl and finding yourself loving a man who is at first very charming, carefree & outgoing, and seems at first to be without limits, as in
"There was a time
you opened up every doorway
you didn't mind if everything
wasn't your way"
then that man starts to gradually become more introverted & shows their more possessive/obsessive side to you as the relationship progresses, even while they keep up the appearance of being carefree & outgoing to everyone else,
"Don't pull away
that goes against what you told me
I look in your eyes
I realize what you've sold me
is love in a vacuum"
so you confront them about the way they're acting and of course they deny it,
"I think you've changed
but you insist that
that's not true"
quite possibly they are an addict of some sort, my guess would be cocaine, &/or showing very obsessive behavior towards you (early on in the video for this song we see the man hanging a picture up, it is a very large portrait of Aimee & it is prominently displayed in his/their apartment for the duration of the song), thus their "love in a vacuum",
"You look so strange, so distant
that you're hardly you
Now I can see
how you have been acting different
You say it's me
but I know
that it isn't
it's love in a vacuum"
but still you are in love with them and don't want to leave them and you know that they are truly in love with you and they don't want you to leave them either, maybe they are convinced you can save them from themself, maybe they are so broken that the possibility of an overdose &/or suicide attempt is very real and you want to get through to them that their behavior not only dangerous but it is also just pissing you off and if they don't wise up they run the risk of loosing you, as in the lines
"You will be lonely
if you leave me alone", so you want to save them but can't get through to them due to the addiction &/or emotional problems they have,
"Love in a vacuum
and that's not enough
love in a vacuum
You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
You will be lonely
if you leave me alone
You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
it's just not enough"
you want them to understand that the love they are giving you is not enough when it is filtered through the vacuum of their drug addiction &/or emotional impairment,
"You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
it's just not enough
and just wait
you will be lonely
Love in a vacuum
Love in a vacuum
and that's not enough
Love in a vacuum".
'Love In A Vacuum' for me is a hauntingly truthful acute argument on the loneliness of obsession and almost inevitable loss of love that follows people who are broken in some way or another; the obsessives, the coke heads, the drunks, addicts or the just-plain-old emotionally broken; a razor sharp, lyrically driven, deceptively poppy, yet ultimately-depressing-in-the-best-way song.
Quintessential Aimee Mann.
Grand Theft Auto
Insane Ian
Insane Ian
The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
I just love this song, IMO the best of the ones that leaked until now. (Although thats probably just me xD)
The Lyrics are pretty obvios, der narrator and his group ( gang / band / friends) are searching for one of them, who got lossed.
He probably left because he is searching for an answer / direction in life, doesn't know where to go, etc.
The crown of thorns seems to be a sign that he's searching his way in faith and religion, although I prefer interpreting lyrics in a more metaphorical way, sure it could stand for religion, but for me its just a metaphor that says he is searching for something he can believe in, a way to go in live.
The Rest of the Song is about how they search and miss him, remeber the times, and just plea for him to come back. They don't know where he went and just want to tell him that they want him to come back. They're searching for him, but feel they aren't the same as before, the hole he left left them all as strangers, they're broken and stand apart.
The Chorus probably is about how they fixed their old flaws, that made him go. "Our Silence is broken" could mean they spoke out about something they kept quiet about befor. "All is forgiven" means they are one group again, everything that happened is fixed, they just want to reunite. The only thing that still is missing is him coming back, and they don't know where he went and just wish / pray / plea for him to come back home, and don't know what else they can do except searching and hoping.
PS: Just wrote this like I had it on my mind, probably a bid confused, but I hope you can understand the main idea.
i dont think that the song is about chris leaving although i like the interpretation. i find that when i listen to the song that it's about estranged family members. a father and son maybe. i get this reasoning through several line of the song for example: (ill do the chorus last)<br /> <br /> the first verse makes me think that the son is spiteful towards his fathers beliefs and marchs off to find his own beliefs the hard way. the tainted crown of thorns makes me think that he was normally a good child and he did something outrageous before leaving that tainted his families image of him. maybe he fought his father.<br /> <br /> the second verse makes me think of the helplessness that a parent feels while searching for their son as well as the "hunger" for the presence of the missing piece of their heart.<br /> the next bit makes me think of the hardships of being on your own as a young man without the support of your family and the growing feeling of separation.<br /> <br /> then it describes that earlier in life the father and son were of the same opinion and stood together or so it seemed because as the son grew older his ideals changed but every time he voiced his opinion it was laughed at and he went along with it hiding his true feelings until.<br /> <br /> later the father sees his son at a distance and hesitates not knowing what to say because its been so long and the son keeps walking not even noticing the father was there. and the father was hoping for god to give him a sign.<br /> <br /> then they meet at a party or something, perhaps a grandparents anniversary, and they avoid each other. not sure about the swallow the sun erase the sky line maybe the father's or son's or boths feelings about the meeting. then the parents reach out with an invitation to dinner maybe and the son refuses. and then he moves away out of the area again and all contact is lost again.<br /> <br /> the chorus is the dad searching for his son and hoping that the son will come home. the dad feels terrible that the son has left and blames himself for not being more accepting of his sons ideals. he wants to speak with his son to try and mend the wound in their relationship. and he keeps wanting to be able to tell his son "it's alright" and i forgive you
I agree with Dronesfan I think it's about one of tim's daughters running away and the despair he felt when he didn't know where they were