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.
Dogged by the statistics
Waxing atavistic
Unrealistic
Nonetheless a real mystic
The music that lives in the sky
that travels along the invisible lines of view.
Blues for Castro
Can’t find Genghis Khan’s ashes
Locked in the father of strange
with a brainwash and a needle in my veins.
We need a wake up,
a chemical shake up,
a self-cleaning oven laying minds to waste.
Blues for Castro
Can’t find Genghis Khan’s ashes
Locked in the father of strange
with a brainwash and a needle in my veins.
I want a new figure of speech
Lying in the sand
A carcass on the beach
Judged and vilified
Everyone’s walking in your shoes
It’s non-negotiable
A deal breaker with courtesans singing
Blues for Castro
Can’t find Genghis Khan’s ashes
Locked in the father of strange
with a brainwash and a needle in my veins.
Waxing atavistic
Unrealistic
Nonetheless a real mystic
The music that lives in the sky
that travels along the invisible lines of view.
Blues for Castro
Can’t find Genghis Khan’s ashes
Locked in the father of strange
with a brainwash and a needle in my veins.
We need a wake up,
a chemical shake up,
a self-cleaning oven laying minds to waste.
Blues for Castro
Can’t find Genghis Khan’s ashes
Locked in the father of strange
with a brainwash and a needle in my veins.
I want a new figure of speech
Lying in the sand
A carcass on the beach
Judged and vilified
Everyone’s walking in your shoes
It’s non-negotiable
A deal breaker with courtesans singing
Blues for Castro
Can’t find Genghis Khan’s ashes
Locked in the father of strange
with a brainwash and a needle in my veins.
Lyrics submitted by michaelcovel
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