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.
One... two... three... one
Well, he wasn't looking for fanfare or fame
But it all came around just the same
He then met a girl with desire in her eye
He gave her love, she took his name
The times they were good, the times they were bad
Most times it was just in-between
The hard pill he swallowed was the times that they had
She put on display for all to be seen
Some find their solace in work or the Lord
She was quite content in her dream
When his eyes they burned from the bright lime light
He found comfort in the bottle of the old Jimmy Beam
One day from the depths of his deep darkened hole
He reached out for something to feel
She offered back nothin' but lack of respect
So he let himself out with two barrels of steel
She cried in the day, she cried in the night
She cried loudest when someone was near
Whether crying for him or she cried for herself
The bigger the camera the bigger the tear
Most folks agree she was living a hell
And publicly she showed her pain
And never once was there a thought for herself
And the ever growing slices of fortune and fame
Now on the coattails of a dead man she'll ride (she'll ride)
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride high
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride (she'll ride)
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride high
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride (she'll ride)
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride high
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride (she'll ride)
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride high
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride (she'll ride)
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride high
Well, he wasn't looking for fanfare or fame
But it all came around just the same
He then met a girl with desire in her eye
He gave her love, she took his name
The times they were good, the times they were bad
Most times it was just in-between
The hard pill he swallowed was the times that they had
She put on display for all to be seen
Some find their solace in work or the Lord
She was quite content in her dream
When his eyes they burned from the bright lime light
He found comfort in the bottle of the old Jimmy Beam
One day from the depths of his deep darkened hole
He reached out for something to feel
She offered back nothin' but lack of respect
So he let himself out with two barrels of steel
She cried in the day, she cried in the night
She cried loudest when someone was near
Whether crying for him or she cried for herself
The bigger the camera the bigger the tear
Most folks agree she was living a hell
And publicly she showed her pain
And never once was there a thought for herself
And the ever growing slices of fortune and fame
Now on the coattails of a dead man she'll ride (she'll ride)
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride high
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride (she'll ride)
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride high
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride (she'll ride)
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride high
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride (she'll ride)
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride high
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride (she'll ride)
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride
On the coattails of a dead man she'll ride, she'll ride high
Lyrics submitted by ecorchee1, edited by Mellow_Harsher
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Waits only does backing vocals on this one, but what backing vocals they are! He sounds like he's having a great time. I love this song, very cruel & sly. "The bigger the camera the bigger the tear", indeed! I'll leave it to others to point out that it's a very one-sided & controversial account of a certain ill-starred marriage...
Can you say Courtney love and Kurt Cobain? That's very much what this song is about, and tom is the man with those backing vocals. But yea she wanted his money, and you gotta know she helped drive him towards his decision... Great song tho, primus and waits together is beautiful.
Can you say Courtney love and Kurt Cobain? That's very much what this song is about, and tom is the man with those backing vocals. But yea she wanted his money, and you gotta know she helped drive him towards his decision... Great song tho, primus and waits together is beautiful.
Can you say Courtney love and Kurt Cobain? That's very much what this song is about, and tom is the man with those backing vocals. But yea she wanted his money, and you gotta know she helped drive him towards his decision... Great song tho, primus and waits together is beautiful.
Can you say Courtney love and Kurt Cobain? That's very much what this song is about, and tom is the man with those backing vocals. But yea she wanted his money, and you gotta know she helped drive him towards his decision... Great song tho, primus and waits together is beautiful.