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.
I'm pinned down by the dark
Been fighting with my sheets and nearly crying in my sleep
Yes, I'm battling that well-told gripe, the most restraining type
You should have racing stripes the way you keep me in pursuit
Sharpen the heel of your boot and you press it to my chest
And you make me wheeze, then to my knees you do promote me
I'm pinned down by the dark
A-N-I-M-A-L
Makes my head pirouette
More than I would be willing to confess
D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S
The light it fidgets through, the thoughts'll soon revert to you
About as bashful as a tribal dance, the first and final chance
And course the audience of frighteners and fiends
Divided up into two teams
When the acrobat fell off the beam, she broke everyone's heart
I'm pinned down by the dark
A-N-I-M-A-L
Makes my head pirouette
More than I would be willing to confess
D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S
D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S
The most unsuitable pet
It's been long enough now, so let's
Make a mess lioness
I'm pinned down by the dark
I'm pinned down by the dark, oh-oh-oh
D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S
A-N-I-M-A-L
D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S
A-N-I-M-A-L
Been fighting with my sheets and nearly crying in my sleep
Yes, I'm battling that well-told gripe, the most restraining type
You should have racing stripes the way you keep me in pursuit
Sharpen the heel of your boot and you press it to my chest
And you make me wheeze, then to my knees you do promote me
I'm pinned down by the dark
A-N-I-M-A-L
Makes my head pirouette
More than I would be willing to confess
D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S
The light it fidgets through, the thoughts'll soon revert to you
About as bashful as a tribal dance, the first and final chance
And course the audience of frighteners and fiends
Divided up into two teams
When the acrobat fell off the beam, she broke everyone's heart
I'm pinned down by the dark
A-N-I-M-A-L
Makes my head pirouette
More than I would be willing to confess
D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S
D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S
The most unsuitable pet
It's been long enough now, so let's
Make a mess lioness
I'm pinned down by the dark
I'm pinned down by the dark, oh-oh-oh
D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S
A-N-I-M-A-L
D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S
A-N-I-M-A-L
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Love this song. Love the "pinned down by the dark" part its really really catchy. Arctic Monkeys have done it again