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.
Drag myself from my bed
Around 20 past 6
Get my kids up make breakfast
1 egg 2 toast 3 weetabix
And as I sit down I look up
And your standing in the doorway sun at your back
In my old brown dressing gown
Well no one can love you more than I love you now, but I
Gotta go running for the bus
Coat flying and I try not to miss it this time
But the drivers waiting and that's strange
Kids on the top deck quiet for a change
And there's no rain and no roadworks
In the bus lane and all my hurts run away
And I'm smiling as I'm punching in
The day I died was the best day of my life
The day I died was the best day of my life
Tell my friends and my kids and my wife
Everything will be alright
The day I died was the best day of my life
Now the secretaries they got a smile for me
And the in tray on my desks almost empty
I get a memo from executive Joe
Saying Rob the gob is getting kicked out
For embezzling funds from the company account
And id be lying if I said I wasn't chuffed
'Cause I always hated rob
And now they'll probably offer me robs old job
And in the park at lunch
There's no whinos on my favorite bench
None of that drunk chatter none of that pissy stench
And the scrawny little pigeons with the gammy legs
Decide to dive bomb from someone elses sandwich instead
And there's something about the city today
Like all the colors conspire to overwhelm the grey
And this close to the fire I can feel no cold
But a rainbow halo around my soul
The day I died was the best day of my life
The day I died was the best day of my life
Tell my friends and my kids and my wife
Everything will be alright
The day I died was the best day of my life
So I leave work get to the high street and I miss my bus
Should I wait for another no I can't be arsed
I begin to walk
And rush hour crowd seem to part like the red sea
And I'm stopping at the offy
20 cigarettes and a 6 pack to relax me
And as I cross back over the street
I guess I never saw that taxi
I guess I never saw that taxi
The day I died was the best day of my life
The day I died was the best day of my life
Tell my friends and my kids and my wife
Everything will be alright
The day I died was the best day of my life
Now I got 99 red balloons floating in the summer sky
I got 99 red balloons drifting past my dreamy eyes
I got 99 red balloons floating in the summer sky
I got 99 red balloons drifting past my dying eyes
Around 20 past 6
Get my kids up make breakfast
1 egg 2 toast 3 weetabix
And as I sit down I look up
And your standing in the doorway sun at your back
In my old brown dressing gown
Well no one can love you more than I love you now, but I
Gotta go running for the bus
Coat flying and I try not to miss it this time
But the drivers waiting and that's strange
Kids on the top deck quiet for a change
And there's no rain and no roadworks
In the bus lane and all my hurts run away
And I'm smiling as I'm punching in
The day I died was the best day of my life
The day I died was the best day of my life
Tell my friends and my kids and my wife
Everything will be alright
The day I died was the best day of my life
Now the secretaries they got a smile for me
And the in tray on my desks almost empty
I get a memo from executive Joe
Saying Rob the gob is getting kicked out
For embezzling funds from the company account
And id be lying if I said I wasn't chuffed
'Cause I always hated rob
And now they'll probably offer me robs old job
And in the park at lunch
There's no whinos on my favorite bench
None of that drunk chatter none of that pissy stench
And the scrawny little pigeons with the gammy legs
Decide to dive bomb from someone elses sandwich instead
And there's something about the city today
Like all the colors conspire to overwhelm the grey
And this close to the fire I can feel no cold
But a rainbow halo around my soul
The day I died was the best day of my life
The day I died was the best day of my life
Tell my friends and my kids and my wife
Everything will be alright
The day I died was the best day of my life
So I leave work get to the high street and I miss my bus
Should I wait for another no I can't be arsed
I begin to walk
And rush hour crowd seem to part like the red sea
And I'm stopping at the offy
20 cigarettes and a 6 pack to relax me
And as I cross back over the street
I guess I never saw that taxi
I guess I never saw that taxi
The day I died was the best day of my life
The day I died was the best day of my life
Tell my friends and my kids and my wife
Everything will be alright
The day I died was the best day of my life
Now I got 99 red balloons floating in the summer sky
I got 99 red balloons drifting past my dreamy eyes
I got 99 red balloons floating in the summer sky
I got 99 red balloons drifting past my dying eyes
Lyrics submitted by chrischaos
The Day I Died Lyrics as written by Jules Porreca Jack Christopher Allsopp
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
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Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
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I think has different meanings, for me this is how ironic life can be and how to find good side of things in devastating experiences in your life. Ironic because when all the things start to work for you and you are getting what you want in life it can all suddenly end with a blink of en eye, life is so fragile. Positive because, everynone has to die sometimes and you need to make most of now, even if things look bad, you need to enjou what you have left and share it with your family and friends. Everybody is going to die at some stage, but if you can die in happiness that's the main thing.
This is how I do understand this song, you might take it different way.
Great, great song :)
I guess he didn't get offered Robs old job, then.. :/
i think many people take "the day i died was the best day of my life" to mean that he had a terrible life and dying was sadly the best thing that could have happened to him, but actually I think the song is that he did just ahd the best day of his life with everything going right for him, then he died at the end, demonstrating how quickly life can change.
Hilariously, the beginning of this lyric now looks like a parody of Rebecca Black's "Friday".
Good song, mind...
Absolutely amazing song. Not entirely sure what it's about... maybe that you never know when you're going to go?
Unless theres a hidden meaning behind it that i'm not getting, this just seems like one depressing song to me!
wow tammyyyx i think you've got it!
I lovvvveee this song! Someone recommended this song on reddit under the topic of "Uplifting Songs." Now I can't stop listening to it and I can't remember the last time a song made me smile. My favorite line is: "And there's something about the city today, like all the colours conspire to overwhelm the grey." Just utterly beautiful!
I agree with 4ever2gether.
It's about how everything can end so fast. Take the song's great vibe and how it describes a good day and everything... I guess it's to show how smooth lifes seems sometimes, about how we have to capture the best moments... Because "I guess you never see that Taxi"... I'm aware how corny it's sounds.
I thing this is about how you have to make the most of what you've got and the best day of your life could be your last... I LOVE IT!! :D