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.
I'm thinking what I'm doing
I'm thinking what I've done
I'm thinking 'bout my mother
Who never thought I'd come
Quite this far from nowhere
To hear myself be sung
But I still haven't forgotten
I used to do it just for fun
When all the ones around me
Would wonder if they saw
Or heard me singing somewhere
Tuning my guitar
Knock once, I got ten minutes
And every night's the same
Sometimes I wish I wasn't in it
When I hear them call my name
Same people all around me
And I wonder who they are
I know they're not my family
And they're not my friends by far
They're all the ones around me
I wonder who they are
They hide behind my curtain
And they hope I'll be a star
An' they say, "Get out and sell them"
But selling's not my aim
I'm gonna sing the life I'm living
And try to ease the pain
Of all the ones around me
No matter who you are
Tonight you're gonna hold the curtain
I'm tuning my guitar
And all the ones around me
I wonder who you are
You hide behind my curtain
And they hope I'll be a star
But all the ones around me
Who don't know who you are
You hide and you look uncertain
But you hope I'll be a star
And all the ones, all around me
I don't care who you are
Tonight you're gonna hold the curtain
I'm tuning my guitar
All the ones, all the ones
All the ones around me
And I don't care who you are
Tonight you're gonna hold the curtain
I'm tuning my guitar
Oh all the ones
Who do you think that you are
Tonight you're gonna hold the
I'm thinking what I've done
I'm thinking 'bout my mother
Who never thought I'd come
Quite this far from nowhere
To hear myself be sung
But I still haven't forgotten
I used to do it just for fun
When all the ones around me
Would wonder if they saw
Or heard me singing somewhere
Tuning my guitar
Knock once, I got ten minutes
And every night's the same
Sometimes I wish I wasn't in it
When I hear them call my name
Same people all around me
And I wonder who they are
I know they're not my family
And they're not my friends by far
They're all the ones around me
I wonder who they are
They hide behind my curtain
And they hope I'll be a star
An' they say, "Get out and sell them"
But selling's not my aim
I'm gonna sing the life I'm living
And try to ease the pain
Of all the ones around me
No matter who you are
Tonight you're gonna hold the curtain
I'm tuning my guitar
And all the ones around me
I wonder who you are
You hide behind my curtain
And they hope I'll be a star
But all the ones around me
Who don't know who you are
You hide and you look uncertain
But you hope I'll be a star
And all the ones, all around me
I don't care who you are
Tonight you're gonna hold the curtain
I'm tuning my guitar
All the ones, all the ones
All the ones around me
And I don't care who you are
Tonight you're gonna hold the curtain
I'm tuning my guitar
Oh all the ones
Who do you think that you are
Tonight you're gonna hold the
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Tuning My Guitar Lyrics as written by Melanie Safka
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC, CARLIN AMERICA INC
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