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 don't need to talk about the world alright
I just want to sleep with a smile tonight
I don't want to talk about the hungry people
People down and out
Sleep when the sun goes down
When I wake up early in the morning I don't watch the news
I just wake up with a smile by you
And I don't want to talk about the world
I just want to smile and smile some more
We watched the sun come up
But take it down, to hide it
Seems like the spring has come and gone
Felt like forever
I don't want to talk about the world alright
I just want to sleep with a smile tonight
I don't want to talk about the hungry people
People down and out
Sleep when the sun goes down
When I wake up early in the morning I don't watch the news
I just get up with a smile by you
And I don't want to talk about the world
I just want to smile and smile some more
And I feel fine I feel good
That's what happy people do, and how are you?
When I feel fine I feel good
That's what happy people do, and how are you?
Let's watch the sun come up
To take it down, and hide it
Seems like the spring has come and gone
It felt like forever
We'll watch the sun come up
To take it down, and hide it
It seems like the spring has come and gone
It felt like forever
Until the summer comes then, you'll find me there
I'd like to try to forget the times
Have changed and we all live and die
Plastic soldiers
Never growing older
I'd like to try to forget the times
Have changed and we all live and die
Plastic soldiers
Slowly growing older
I'd like to try to forget the times
Have changed and we all live and die
Plastic soldiers
Slowly growing older
And I'm sorry for the love you lost today
But I thank you for the love I need today
I'm sorry for the love you lost today
But I thank you for the love I need today
I'm sorry for the love you lost today
But I thank you for the love I need today
I'm sorry for the love you lost today
But I thank you for the love I need today
I'm sorry for the love you lost today
But I thank you for the love I need today
I just want to sleep with a smile tonight
I don't want to talk about the hungry people
People down and out
Sleep when the sun goes down
When I wake up early in the morning I don't watch the news
I just wake up with a smile by you
And I don't want to talk about the world
I just want to smile and smile some more
We watched the sun come up
But take it down, to hide it
Seems like the spring has come and gone
Felt like forever
I don't want to talk about the world alright
I just want to sleep with a smile tonight
I don't want to talk about the hungry people
People down and out
Sleep when the sun goes down
When I wake up early in the morning I don't watch the news
I just get up with a smile by you
And I don't want to talk about the world
I just want to smile and smile some more
And I feel fine I feel good
That's what happy people do, and how are you?
When I feel fine I feel good
That's what happy people do, and how are you?
Let's watch the sun come up
To take it down, and hide it
Seems like the spring has come and gone
It felt like forever
We'll watch the sun come up
To take it down, and hide it
It seems like the spring has come and gone
It felt like forever
Until the summer comes then, you'll find me there
I'd like to try to forget the times
Have changed and we all live and die
Plastic soldiers
Never growing older
I'd like to try to forget the times
Have changed and we all live and die
Plastic soldiers
Slowly growing older
I'd like to try to forget the times
Have changed and we all live and die
Plastic soldiers
Slowly growing older
And I'm sorry for the love you lost today
But I thank you for the love I need today
I'm sorry for the love you lost today
But I thank you for the love I need today
I'm sorry for the love you lost today
But I thank you for the love I need today
I'm sorry for the love you lost today
But I thank you for the love I need today
I'm sorry for the love you lost today
But I thank you for the love I need today
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
"I don't want to talk about the hungry people, people down and out": The singer doesn't want to try and act concerned and responsible for the sorry state of the world. Instead, they simply want to be happy with the people they know and their own life: "I just wake up with a smile by you". This fits with the album's theme, "be evil". The message isn't that the lyricist wants to be evil and malicious, rather it is about rejecting a false sense of morality; people act concerned with others' suffering by reading the news, talking about horrific events, etc. It's implied that others impose this false sense of moral uprightness on us, but in reality getting torn up about the world doesn't add anything to our lives nor does it help those who are suffering.
"I'd like to try to forget that times have changed. And we all live and die": The way we live now and our attitudes about the world continue to completely change, and ultimately we all die. The singer chooses to not concern themselves with existential problems.
"Plastic soldiers, never growing older". In the first song on this album, Plastic Soldiers, the author talks about how they got "lost in the summer". In this song, after a difficult period, "summer" is ahead again: "It seems like the spring has come and gone, It felt like forever". Likewise, in the first song, we are "plastic soldiers, only growing older," but by letting go of the sad context of life, we are "never growing older". Ultimately, the author is sad for the tragedies everyone else is facing, but chooses to be happy in this moment with the love they know today.
Also, the line "But I love you for the love I need today" may actually be "But I'm happy for the love I made today." This fits in with the message earlier in the song about enjoying life and letting go of fruitless heartache for others' pain.