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.
Plague has reached the city walls
The hangman is upset: no work today
They'll all die anyway
A blond belief above the harvest
What's with all the rye and thyme
What's in it for fighting for your life
It is as random as it's quiet
And it is everywhere
The black knight of death arrives
Casts a funeral song
All rise, oh
What's not impossible just made it possible
And look, you've found
One of these days that will turn your life around
And you shout it out loud
Plague still feeds the city moles
The hangman is upset: no work today
They'll all die anyway
You talk about a human harvest
Handkerchiefs and suicides
Postmen doing neigbours' wives
They're all sides to what we call life
While stumbling to its silver linings
The man from your dream arrives
You shake hands and he denies:
"Oh, I'm most certainly not, but I do get that a lot"
And look who's found
One of those days that can turn a life around
What lies behind your lies
And between your alibies
You don't really have to mention
As random as it's quiet
As random as it's quiet
I'm out of the circulation
What lies behind your lies
And between your alibies
You don't really have to mention
I'm getting out of the circulation
The hangman is upset: no work today
They'll all die anyway
A blond belief above the harvest
What's with all the rye and thyme
What's in it for fighting for your life
It is as random as it's quiet
And it is everywhere
The black knight of death arrives
Casts a funeral song
All rise, oh
What's not impossible just made it possible
And look, you've found
One of these days that will turn your life around
And you shout it out loud
Plague still feeds the city moles
The hangman is upset: no work today
They'll all die anyway
You talk about a human harvest
Handkerchiefs and suicides
Postmen doing neigbours' wives
They're all sides to what we call life
While stumbling to its silver linings
The man from your dream arrives
You shake hands and he denies:
"Oh, I'm most certainly not, but I do get that a lot"
And look who's found
One of those days that can turn a life around
What lies behind your lies
And between your alibies
You don't really have to mention
As random as it's quiet
As random as it's quiet
I'm out of the circulation
What lies behind your lies
And between your alibies
You don't really have to mention
I'm getting out of the circulation
Lyrics submitted by Flintyfoxy
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