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.
follow the black marks on the floor
fallen through the bathroom door
on his face, that's how it finds you
you built an alter of books and melting wax
sackcloth and his panic attacks
smears his eyes with the candle ash
and oh, does God have a sound?
like a family laughing loud?
or a garden gate opening to
a world you never found.
but not everything's a metaphor
you know somethings just are
like the way she slams her bedroom door
that doesn't mean a thing
he tied a dirty towel around his waist
washes his feet with the tears from his face
aint it a shame, that's how you find him?
in the darkest closet behind the veil
in his sweet and haunted hour of prayer
his hands and feet claw the air
and oh, does God have a sound?
like a little girl crying out
from the attic of her house
where she hid herself for days
but everything's a metaphor
to blood stained over the door
to the bread crumbs on the floor
everything means something.
fallen through the bathroom door
on his face, that's how it finds you
you built an alter of books and melting wax
sackcloth and his panic attacks
smears his eyes with the candle ash
and oh, does God have a sound?
like a family laughing loud?
or a garden gate opening to
a world you never found.
but not everything's a metaphor
you know somethings just are
like the way she slams her bedroom door
that doesn't mean a thing
he tied a dirty towel around his waist
washes his feet with the tears from his face
aint it a shame, that's how you find him?
in the darkest closet behind the veil
in his sweet and haunted hour of prayer
his hands and feet claw the air
and oh, does God have a sound?
like a little girl crying out
from the attic of her house
where she hid herself for days
but everything's a metaphor
to blood stained over the door
to the bread crumbs on the floor
everything means something.
Lyrics submitted by SinginSilence
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"but not everything's a metaphor you know somethings just are"
this is something i think we all need to keep in mind. but,
"everything means something."
This song is basically making a statement about life, trying to discover the meaning of everything.
"but everything's a metaphor to blood stained over the door to the bread crumbs on the floor everything means something. "
And I think that's the resolution to the questions the song asks. Quite a line.