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 calling you from the foyer
Of the Sands Hotel
Where the men and the women
Are acquainted quite well
And the drunkards keep on drinking
And oh, my room is cold
I'm disputing the bill
I will sleep in my clothes
And you, my invalid friend
You slam the receiver when you say
"If I had your limbs for a day
I would steam away"
I'm calling you from the foyer
Of this awful hotel
Where the slime and the grime
Gel
And I cannot, or, I do not
And oh, my room is cold
And I'm envying you never having to choose
And you, my invalid friend
You slam the receiver when you say
"If I had your limbs for a day
I would steam away"
I'm calling you from the foyer
Of the Sands Hotel
It's not low-life, it's just people
Having a good time
And oh, my invalid friend
Oh, my invalid friend
In our different ways we are
The same.
Of the Sands Hotel
Where the men and the women
Are acquainted quite well
And the drunkards keep on drinking
And oh, my room is cold
I'm disputing the bill
I will sleep in my clothes
And you, my invalid friend
You slam the receiver when you say
"If I had your limbs for a day
I would steam away"
I'm calling you from the foyer
Of this awful hotel
Where the slime and the grime
Gel
And I cannot, or, I do not
And oh, my room is cold
And I'm envying you never having to choose
And you, my invalid friend
You slam the receiver when you say
"If I had your limbs for a day
I would steam away"
I'm calling you from the foyer
Of the Sands Hotel
It's not low-life, it's just people
Having a good time
And oh, my invalid friend
Oh, my invalid friend
In our different ways we are
The same.
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
The Bed Took Fire Lyrics as written by Steven Patrick Morrissey Stephen Brian Street
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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