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.
No kind of love.
I don't want to make no scene
Lovers come and go, or make you Mrs.
Anyone or make you Mr.
Me.
I'm into you like a train.
Yeah,
Fall in love.
I don't want to tape you down or shack you up with me,
Or put you where the flowers go or get into your mind.
I'm into you like a train.
Now fall in love.
Yeah,
Fall in love.
If you believe that anyone like me within a song is outside it all,
Then you are all so wrong.
If you believe that anyone like me within a song would try and change it all,
Then you have been put on.
I don't want to wear no side or complicate it all,
Or celebrate your prettiness and kick you in it all.
So wrong.
I don't want to make no scene
Lovers come and go, or make you Mrs.
Anyone or make you Mr.
Me.
I'm into you like a train.
Yeah,
Fall in love.
I don't want to tape you down or shack you up with me,
Or put you where the flowers go or get into your mind.
I'm into you like a train.
Now fall in love.
Yeah,
Fall in love.
If you believe that anyone like me within a song is outside it all,
Then you are all so wrong.
If you believe that anyone like me within a song would try and change it all,
Then you have been put on.
I don't want to wear no side or complicate it all,
Or celebrate your prettiness and kick you in it all.
So wrong.
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!
amazing rock beat
Well...kinda obvious, right? ;) Sex, no romance, just good hard sex and no complications. The protagonist is being completely honest in a world where dishonesty and false promises prevail. Quite an astonishing song for its time. The Furs first two albums were filled with honest rage which later became muted with their quest for mainstream acceptance. A shame, really. This song is absolutely brilliant.
@FolsomFred "If you believe that anyone like me within a song is outside it all,<br /> Then you are all so wrong."<br /> <br /> The song slows down just to let him make this point. Sure, he wishes he was beyond the hypocritical notion of love and romance, that he could just have fun and have it mean nothing more than that. He doesn't want to tape you down and shack you up with him. And yet, he knows that he's no better than anyone else, and when it comes down to it, he's as likely to fall in stupid love as anyone else.
@FolsomFred Also, the rage came back after the artistic (if not commercial) failure of Midnight to Midnight. If you haven't listened to say, "House" since it came out, give it another try. Sure, the anger of Book of Days is more that of a bitter old man than of a nihilistic young art student, but it's just as angry, and nothing at all like the self-restrained mediocrity of Midnight and Mirror Moves.<br /> <br /> Of course I still listen to the first two albums a lot more often… but not being as great as Talk Talk Talk is hardly a shattering criticism; most things in the universe aren't as great as Talk Talk Talk.