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.
She pops into the bathroom
Just after a shower and
She plays with my makeup and creams
"Heap's trying to look like me"
And goes through the motions posing this way and that
Holding it in
If it makes you feel better then knock yourself out
Say hi there to my bad body double
This is my bad body double trouble
Oh no my bad body double mm hm
I got bad body double trouble oh.
She's trouble
She's trouble
She's trouble alright.
Yeah yeah
Sometimes I just want to lose her
Shake her at a bar or gym for five minutes
It feels so good to be back in my own self again
Can get quite confusing.
We look very similar except she's got some grays and
A little extra weight on the side
Dimply thighs I hear that stuff's a bitch to get rid off.
We're having quite an intimate personal moment (not now)
Could you maybe come at a slightly less awful time? (not now)
She can see I've got someone quite nice here with me
Can't we just be left alone
I guess that's a no then
Seeing as how you're still here
Seeing as how you're still here
It's not me no
It's my bad body double
I've got bad body double trouble
Oh no my bad body double mm hm
I've got bad body double trouble agh.
Bad body double mm hm.
I've got bad body double trouble
Oh dear my bad body double mm hm
I got bad body double trouble.
She's trouble
She's trouble
She's trouble alright.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
She's trouble
She's trouble.
She's trouble alright.
Yeah, yeah right there.
Can't shake her can't shake her can't shake her can't shake her
Everywhere I go everywhere I go go
Can't shake her can't shake her can't shake her can't shake her
Everywhere I go everywhere I go go
Say hi there
To my bad body double
My bad bad bad body double.
She's trouble
I can't shake her.
I hate her I hate her I hate her I hate her I hate her.
She's everywhere I go
I've gotta get rid
Of you once and for all
Just after a shower and
She plays with my makeup and creams
"Heap's trying to look like me"
And goes through the motions posing this way and that
Holding it in
If it makes you feel better then knock yourself out
Say hi there to my bad body double
This is my bad body double trouble
Oh no my bad body double mm hm
I got bad body double trouble oh.
She's trouble
She's trouble
She's trouble alright.
Yeah yeah
Sometimes I just want to lose her
Shake her at a bar or gym for five minutes
It feels so good to be back in my own self again
Can get quite confusing.
We look very similar except she's got some grays and
A little extra weight on the side
Dimply thighs I hear that stuff's a bitch to get rid off.
We're having quite an intimate personal moment (not now)
Could you maybe come at a slightly less awful time? (not now)
She can see I've got someone quite nice here with me
Can't we just be left alone
I guess that's a no then
Seeing as how you're still here
Seeing as how you're still here
It's not me no
It's my bad body double
I've got bad body double trouble
Oh no my bad body double mm hm
I've got bad body double trouble agh.
Bad body double mm hm.
I've got bad body double trouble
Oh dear my bad body double mm hm
I got bad body double trouble.
She's trouble
She's trouble
She's trouble alright.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
She's trouble
She's trouble.
She's trouble alright.
Yeah, yeah right there.
Can't shake her can't shake her can't shake her can't shake her
Everywhere I go everywhere I go go
Can't shake her can't shake her can't shake her can't shake her
Everywhere I go everywhere I go go
Say hi there
To my bad body double
My bad bad bad body double.
She's trouble
I can't shake her.
I hate her I hate her I hate her I hate her I hate her.
She's everywhere I go
I've gotta get rid
Of you once and for all
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There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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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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Barely over 5 foot... sorry, I was tired.