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.
Headline: "murder, young girl killed
Desperate shooting at echo's hill
Dreadful ending, killer died
Evidently suicide."
A witness heard a horrifying sound
He ran to find a woman dead and
Lying on the ground
Standing by her was a man
Nervous, shaking, gun in hand
Witness says he tried to help
But he'd turned the weapon on himself
His body fell across that poor young girl
After shouting out in vain
The witness ran to call for assistance
A sad close to a broken love affair
Our deeds have traveled far
What we have been is what we are
Our deeds have traveled far
What we have been is what we are
She wanted love forever
But he had another plan
He fell into an evil way
She had to let him down
She said, "I can't love a wayward man."
She may have found a reason to forgive
If he had only tried to change
Was their fatal meeting prearranged
Had a violent struggle taken place
There was every sign that lead there
Witness found a switchblade on the ground
Was the victim unaware
They continued to investigate
They found a note in the killer's pocket
It could have been a suicide letter
Maybe he had lost her love
I feel there's only one thing left to do
I'd sooner take my life away
Than live with losing you
Our deeds have traveled far
What we have been is what we are
Our deeds have traveled far
What we have been is what we are
All that we learn this time
(what we have been is what we are)
Is carried beyond this life
All that we learn this time
(what we have been is what we are)
Is carried beyond this life
Our deeds have traveled far
What we have been is what we are
Our deeds have traveled far
What we have been is what we are
All that we learn this time
(what we have been is what we are)
Is carried beyond this life
All that we learn this time
(what we have been is what we are)
Is carried beyond this life
Desperate shooting at echo's hill
Dreadful ending, killer died
Evidently suicide."
A witness heard a horrifying sound
He ran to find a woman dead and
Lying on the ground
Standing by her was a man
Nervous, shaking, gun in hand
Witness says he tried to help
But he'd turned the weapon on himself
His body fell across that poor young girl
After shouting out in vain
The witness ran to call for assistance
A sad close to a broken love affair
Our deeds have traveled far
What we have been is what we are
Our deeds have traveled far
What we have been is what we are
She wanted love forever
But he had another plan
He fell into an evil way
She had to let him down
She said, "I can't love a wayward man."
She may have found a reason to forgive
If he had only tried to change
Was their fatal meeting prearranged
Had a violent struggle taken place
There was every sign that lead there
Witness found a switchblade on the ground
Was the victim unaware
They continued to investigate
They found a note in the killer's pocket
It could have been a suicide letter
Maybe he had lost her love
I feel there's only one thing left to do
I'd sooner take my life away
Than live with losing you
Our deeds have traveled far
What we have been is what we are
Our deeds have traveled far
What we have been is what we are
All that we learn this time
(what we have been is what we are)
Is carried beyond this life
All that we learn this time
(what we have been is what we are)
Is carried beyond this life
Our deeds have traveled far
What we have been is what we are
Our deeds have traveled far
What we have been is what we are
All that we learn this time
(what we have been is what we are)
Is carried beyond this life
All that we learn this time
(what we have been is what we are)
Is carried beyond this life
Lyrics submitted by Idan, edited by Octavarium64
Beyond This Life Lyrics as written by John Petrucci John Myung
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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This song is too much like the movie "Being John Malkovich", where a puppeteer finds a portal that transports him to the mind of John Malcovich for about 15 minutes where he is then spit out and transported somewhere else. You ask why? Because he wishes to be John Malcovich because someone he loves is involved with him, in the end SPOILERS:
He gets trapped in the body of his lover and ex wife's (Lesbians) daughter (John Malcovich's and his lover's biological daughter) where he stays there for ever. Thus being lost in the maze and can't find the way home, driven by love and crushed by hate until the day the gift is gone and shadows remain.The puppeteer is now the puppet because he can't control the daughter. They even mention in the movie about some people life gracefully while some lose the way home (In a way).