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.
She can't see the landscape anymore
It's all painted in her grief
All of her history etched out at her feet
Now all of the landscape, it's just an empty place
Acres of longing, mountains of tenderness
'Cause she's just like the weather, can't hold her together
Born from dark water, daughter of the rain and snow
'Cause it's burning through the bloodline
It's cutting down the family tree
Growing in the landscape, darling, in between you and me
She wants the silence but fears the solitude
She wants to be alone and together with you
So she ran to the lighthouse, hoped that it would help her see
She saw that the lighthouse had been washed out to sea
'Cause she's just like the weather, can't hold her together
Born from dark water, daughter of the rain and snow
'Cause it's burning through the bloodline
It's cutting down the family tree
Growing in the landscape, darling, in between you and me
I wanna give you back the open sky
Give you back the open sea
Open up the ages, darling, for you to see
You put the gun into your mouth to bite the bullet and spit out
Cause it's running in the family
Oh the rich and
'Cause she's just like the weather, can't hold her together
Born from dark water, daughter of the rain and snow
'Cause it's burning through the bloodline
It's cutting down the family tree
Growing in the landscape, darling, in between you and me
It's all painted in her grief
All of her history etched out at her feet
Now all of the landscape, it's just an empty place
Acres of longing, mountains of tenderness
'Cause she's just like the weather, can't hold her together
Born from dark water, daughter of the rain and snow
'Cause it's burning through the bloodline
It's cutting down the family tree
Growing in the landscape, darling, in between you and me
She wants the silence but fears the solitude
She wants to be alone and together with you
So she ran to the lighthouse, hoped that it would help her see
She saw that the lighthouse had been washed out to sea
'Cause she's just like the weather, can't hold her together
Born from dark water, daughter of the rain and snow
'Cause it's burning through the bloodline
It's cutting down the family tree
Growing in the landscape, darling, in between you and me
I wanna give you back the open sky
Give you back the open sea
Open up the ages, darling, for you to see
You put the gun into your mouth to bite the bullet and spit out
Cause it's running in the family
Oh the rich and
'Cause she's just like the weather, can't hold her together
Born from dark water, daughter of the rain and snow
'Cause it's burning through the bloodline
It's cutting down the family tree
Growing in the landscape, darling, in between you and me
Lyrics submitted by _lastwords, edited by Mellow_Harsher, cersei, Curmudgeous, maladroitmortal, pwnstylez, culprit
Landscape Lyrics as written by Florence Leontine Mary Welch James Ellis Ford
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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