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.
On a winter's Sunday I go
To clear away the snow
And green the ground below
April all an ocean away
Is this a better way to spend the day?
Keeping the winter at bay
What were the words I meant to say
Before you left
When I could see your breath lead
Where you were going to
Maybe I should just let it be
And maybe it will all come back to me
Seeing, oh, January, oh
How I lived a childhood in the snow
And all my teens in tow
Stuffed in strata of clothes
Hail the winter days after dark
Wandering the gray memorial park
A fleeting beating of hearts
What were the words I meant to say
Before she left
When I could see her breath lead
Where she was going to
Maybe I should just let it be
And maybe it will all come back to me
Seeing, oh, Janu...
Oh, January, oh
To clear away the snow
And green the ground below
April all an ocean away
Is this a better way to spend the day?
Keeping the winter at bay
What were the words I meant to say
Before you left
When I could see your breath lead
Where you were going to
Maybe I should just let it be
And maybe it will all come back to me
Seeing, oh, January, oh
How I lived a childhood in the snow
And all my teens in tow
Stuffed in strata of clothes
Hail the winter days after dark
Wandering the gray memorial park
A fleeting beating of hearts
What were the words I meant to say
Before she left
When I could see her breath lead
Where she was going to
Maybe I should just let it be
And maybe it will all come back to me
Seeing, oh, Janu...
Oh, January, oh
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Bleakness of January with spring feeling far away, paralleled with being alone while a significant other is physically far away, and suggesting both of them simultaneously, seemingly reminding narrator of his lonely childhood in a cold place (Meloy and Montana) and teenage heartache.
Guitar playing is a pastiche of Dylan's flat-picking style, especially his 1963-66 albums and 1992-93 folk cover albums. The G-G6-G7 turnaround is a direct lift, though the inspiration could be Donovan's own pastiche of this guitar style on "Catch the Wind".
The verse melody is a little like that of the Irish song "The Parting Glass", used by Behan for "The Patriot Game" and Dylan for "With God on Our Side", which uses the G figure. Ironically the melody for "what where the words I meant to say before you left?" sounds a LOT like that for "some people say there's a woman to blame..." from (of all things) Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville".