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.
spelling in bruises
"crazy iris"
writing out in welts
"the morbid iris"
intolerable
incomprehensible
you can never earn enough
to buy the gun that you want
so you photograph the marks
but the blood you spite
sputters up up up up
out out out out
up and up
up and up
drafted in a gash
"out of focus iris"
fill up the bath with glass
and cover your face
in the shroud of impossible feeling
in the shroud of impossible feeling
in the shroud of the impossible feeling
"crazy iris"
writing out in welts
"the morbid iris"
intolerable
incomprehensible
you can never earn enough
to buy the gun that you want
so you photograph the marks
but the blood you spite
sputters up up up up
out out out out
up and up
up and up
drafted in a gash
"out of focus iris"
fill up the bath with glass
and cover your face
in the shroud of impossible feeling
in the shroud of impossible feeling
in the shroud of the impossible feeling
Lyrics submitted by medicine
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
I think there is a reference to Joy Division because, at the end, I hear the same "Feeling, feeling, feeling" than in the song "Disorder". Anyway, "Crazy iris" is a japan novel of Masuyi Ibuse. Maybe another reference ...