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.
Talking in my sleep
Backpedal to the reason you don't want to walk with me
Don't fight what you can't say
You know I do it
You can't hope to live off change
The rope she's gonna chase
A barter on good faith
Or wither white with grace
While drive eats you away
But you and I
We're breaking the windows
So we can feel the cold
Computers and candles lighting what we know
We're doing fine
Now and here won't fade this time
Drove up to Beacon Hill
For the first time tonight
It's us against the our will
With Neil Young and Catholic guilt
So we're both a little gone
And the scenery's getting hazy
The view goes on and on
To Sad Bastard songs
We're breaking the windows
So we can feel the cold
Computers and candles lighting what we know
We're doing fine
Now and here won't fade this time
Like the starting lineup last year
Grinning like a fool
Can you tell the road veers in your head
Can you own it if it owns you?
But you and I
We're breaking the windows
So we can feel the cold
Computers and candles lighting what we know
We're doing fine
Now and here won't fade this time
I promise that we won't sell the store
There's wintery weather, but I'll never leave New York
We're doing fine
Now and here won't fade this time
Backpedal to the reason you don't want to walk with me
Don't fight what you can't say
You know I do it
You can't hope to live off change
The rope she's gonna chase
A barter on good faith
Or wither white with grace
While drive eats you away
But you and I
We're breaking the windows
So we can feel the cold
Computers and candles lighting what we know
We're doing fine
Now and here won't fade this time
Drove up to Beacon Hill
For the first time tonight
It's us against the our will
With Neil Young and Catholic guilt
So we're both a little gone
And the scenery's getting hazy
The view goes on and on
To Sad Bastard songs
We're breaking the windows
So we can feel the cold
Computers and candles lighting what we know
We're doing fine
Now and here won't fade this time
Like the starting lineup last year
Grinning like a fool
Can you tell the road veers in your head
Can you own it if it owns you?
But you and I
We're breaking the windows
So we can feel the cold
Computers and candles lighting what we know
We're doing fine
Now and here won't fade this time
I promise that we won't sell the store
There's wintery weather, but I'll never leave New York
We're doing fine
Now and here won't fade this time
Lyrics submitted by eltroyo11
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Favorite off the album. Second is "Bottled Wind," followed by "Kneel on Nails."
Definitely a love song. Jimmy said in an interview that it is. But I know there's more to it than just that, and PBC is kind of known for wanting their fans to interpret things their own way. So, here's my interpretation:
I feel like it's about two people who aren't that well off, but make things work despite. A love song about people who live off hourly wages; they have their ups and downs, their huge fights and almost break-ups, but they've made it work for a while and you know they'll end up together in the end. He wants to move away, leave New York behind him, but it's her paradise. That's the fight even: he wants to leave for something he feels is better, but she wants to stay. They remember the good times, and he would stay for her–she's more important than his dreams, because she's the most important part of them, the scenery doesn't matter. So he'll stay for her, and he'll never leave if she's what that means.
I'm making it more of a story than it is, but I feel like the song's capturing the abstract of all that. The song has a feeling (besides the mention of winter and cold) of a New York Winter. I don't know how to explain it; you just need feel it. This song sends me back to it. I also feel a sort of New York pride; I have it myself: I feel it shows here.
I can relate to this song a bit, but the roles are kind of reversed in my case. Regardless, this song is amazing and I can't stop listening to it.