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.
If the moon don't rise in the sky tonight, keep moving forward
Dreadlock anarchist, US embassy, she's looking onward
And she calls to America
And their poor from Africa
All the way to Jerusalem
If the sun shuts down in the sky today, don't forget the horizon
Many people fall and they call it war and yet their country's thriving
And they talk about deliverance
And they walk without any adherence at all
To their Christian principles
If the fire burn low in the wind tonight, just keep it burning
Freepost Parliament ten times a day, all she gets in return is
Just more walls of silence
And this war is nothing more than violence
If the child don't cry in the dawn today, she won't be waking
Particles of dust, made of metal, thrust on the lives they've taken
But they wont take forever
But if we don't come together
If you get shut down in the street today, just keep on walking
If your friends won't listen to what you’re saying, just keep on talking
And we'll talk to America
And we'll walk forever
All the way to Jerusalem
Dreadlock anarchist, US embassy, she's looking onward
And she calls to America
And their poor from Africa
All the way to Jerusalem
If the sun shuts down in the sky today, don't forget the horizon
Many people fall and they call it war and yet their country's thriving
And they talk about deliverance
And they walk without any adherence at all
To their Christian principles
If the fire burn low in the wind tonight, just keep it burning
Freepost Parliament ten times a day, all she gets in return is
Just more walls of silence
And this war is nothing more than violence
If the child don't cry in the dawn today, she won't be waking
Particles of dust, made of metal, thrust on the lives they've taken
But they wont take forever
But if we don't come together
If you get shut down in the street today, just keep on walking
If your friends won't listen to what you’re saying, just keep on talking
And we'll talk to America
And we'll walk forever
All the way to Jerusalem
Lyrics submitted by bananahero
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