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.
Was put in a round room
And told to sit in the corner
While they washed my brain with a dirty rag
Was given a hammer
And told to build a fortress
With walls impossible to penetrate
You're the only thing I need
And you've become the only thing
That keeps me breathing, without you I'd be
In a dark place, no light switch
An open wound without a stitch
Maybe now you will understand
No matter how stable
The foundation may seem
Everything is crashing down on me
With papercuts on fingertips
Blackened eyes and broken lips
Forever wounded, it's hard to tell
You're the only thing I need
Whether I fail or succeed
Within my blindness, you are all I see
The morning fog sun burns away
A predator's eye without its prey
Maybe now you will understand
I won't quit on you
No, I won't quit on you
Ever
And told to sit in the corner
While they washed my brain with a dirty rag
Was given a hammer
And told to build a fortress
With walls impossible to penetrate
You're the only thing I need
And you've become the only thing
That keeps me breathing, without you I'd be
In a dark place, no light switch
An open wound without a stitch
Maybe now you will understand
No matter how stable
The foundation may seem
Everything is crashing down on me
With papercuts on fingertips
Blackened eyes and broken lips
Forever wounded, it's hard to tell
You're the only thing I need
Whether I fail or succeed
Within my blindness, you are all I see
The morning fog sun burns away
A predator's eye without its prey
Maybe now you will understand
I won't quit on you
No, I won't quit on you
Ever
Lyrics submitted by christsizeshoes, edited by boomgorilla
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