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.
Give me the wisdom of your tongue
The spirit of the ancient soul
Used to be gods in the leaves
In the trees and in the mountains and in the stars
If you look closely, you'll see the afterimage of an old philosophy
Give me the wisdom of your tongue
The spirit of the ancient soul
All I want to do, I want to do is roam
I don't want direction
Now there's no clean air left to breathe
Smog obscures the progress
Kill our gods over time
Replace them with new ones
Such sad, shiny things they are
Give me the wisdom of your tongue
The spirit of the ancient soul
All I want to do, I want to do is roam
I don't want direction
Give me the wisdom of your tongue
The spirit of the ancient soul
All I want to do, I want to do is roam
I don't want direction, no
Is this where we end up?
Lost in the progress over the millennia
Sold it in droves till we ended up with nothing
We're not true believers, but we want to believe
The empty promise of only better days ahead
Human spirit's triumph over everything
We're not true believers, but we want to believe
Give me the wisdom of your tongue
The spirit of the ancient soul
All I want to do, I want to do is roam
I don't want direction
Give me the wisdom of your tongue
The spirit of the ancient soul
All I want to do, I want to do is roam
I don't want direction
Cause all I want to do is roam
But I don't
The spirit of the ancient soul
Used to be gods in the leaves
In the trees and in the mountains and in the stars
If you look closely, you'll see the afterimage of an old philosophy
Give me the wisdom of your tongue
The spirit of the ancient soul
All I want to do, I want to do is roam
I don't want direction
Now there's no clean air left to breathe
Smog obscures the progress
Kill our gods over time
Replace them with new ones
Such sad, shiny things they are
Give me the wisdom of your tongue
The spirit of the ancient soul
All I want to do, I want to do is roam
I don't want direction
Give me the wisdom of your tongue
The spirit of the ancient soul
All I want to do, I want to do is roam
I don't want direction, no
Is this where we end up?
Lost in the progress over the millennia
Sold it in droves till we ended up with nothing
We're not true believers, but we want to believe
The empty promise of only better days ahead
Human spirit's triumph over everything
We're not true believers, but we want to believe
Give me the wisdom of your tongue
The spirit of the ancient soul
All I want to do, I want to do is roam
I don't want direction
Give me the wisdom of your tongue
The spirit of the ancient soul
All I want to do, I want to do is roam
I don't want direction
Cause all I want to do is roam
But I don't
Lyrics submitted by eltroyo11
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