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.
Standing on the front porch,
looking left and looking right
The bloodhounds out to get me,
I already feel the bite
The rules of the road state,
to hate those who hate
Sleeping in wet coffins,
frozen warnings melt away
But you say no to me,
just quit saying no to me
Just stop saying no to me,
500 times a day see
The billboards on the highway,
are the prophets of today
The roadkill speaks in poems
through ads and through campaigns
The warden has his rifle,
and the sniper's like an owl
I'm hiding in the tall grass
with God and Vernon Howell
But you say no to me,
yes you say no to me
Just quit saying no to me,
500 times a day see
looking left and looking right
The bloodhounds out to get me,
I already feel the bite
The rules of the road state,
to hate those who hate
Sleeping in wet coffins,
frozen warnings melt away
But you say no to me,
just quit saying no to me
Just stop saying no to me,
500 times a day see
The billboards on the highway,
are the prophets of today
The roadkill speaks in poems
through ads and through campaigns
The warden has his rifle,
and the sniper's like an owl
I'm hiding in the tall grass
with God and Vernon Howell
But you say no to me,
yes you say no to me
Just quit saying no to me,
500 times a day see
Lyrics submitted by theophany
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That sounds reasonable. The billboards he's referring to could be those -God billboards, that sort of thing.
Vernon Howell was the central figure in the Waco incident with the FBI. In that situation, a religious sect was prosecuted by the law, and ended up all dying.
So, the narrator, God, and religous fanatics are all hiding in the grass together, from the lawmen, or perhaps secular society in general.