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 thought I saw you at the 7-11
I blinked and you went and disappeared
I thought I saw you at the laundromat
Someone who looks like you know just thinks I'm weird
I called your old telephone number
I hung up but they star 69ed
I think I see you everywhere I look these days
And if see you I think I will loose my mind
That's why I'm never going back to Petaluma
'til I can buy the place and burn it to the ground
I'm never going back to Petaluma,
til all I see are ashes on the ground
Well don't look for me down by the river
And don't you look for me down by the square
I'm never going back, I'm never going back, and I'm never going back anywhere
They say you can't go home again to the place that you were
And you'll never be the same person again
You'll never get to travel back in time no sir
And that time, indeed, waits for no man
So don't you waste your time looking back on the past
'cause the mistakes that you made don't mean a thing
If life's a fucking drag cause you fucked up the past
You might as well kick the chair and let the rope swing
I'm never going back to Arizona
'til I can buy the place and burn it to the ground
I'm never going back to Santa Rosa
'cause all I see are bodies on the ground
Well everyone I know is either dead or strungout
And the streets are running crimson with their blood
I'm never going back, I'm never going back, I'm never coming back to you my love
I saw you in a dream I don't remember
I remember you as if you were a dream
It's weird how everyone seems different
And nothing is exactly as it seems
Friends become lovers then enemies then friends
And nothing ever really stays the same
But how can you expect to be a friend to a friend
If every time it hurts you run away
That's why I'm never going back to San Francisco
'til the big one knocks it back into the sea
I'm never coming back to San Francisco until you come back to me
So don't you look for me down in the mission
And don't you look for me at Union Square
I'm never coming back, I'm going back, I'm never going back there
I'm never going back, I'm never going back, I'm never going back, anywhere
I blinked and you went and disappeared
I thought I saw you at the laundromat
Someone who looks like you know just thinks I'm weird
I called your old telephone number
I hung up but they star 69ed
I think I see you everywhere I look these days
And if see you I think I will loose my mind
That's why I'm never going back to Petaluma
'til I can buy the place and burn it to the ground
I'm never going back to Petaluma,
til all I see are ashes on the ground
Well don't look for me down by the river
And don't you look for me down by the square
I'm never going back, I'm never going back, and I'm never going back anywhere
They say you can't go home again to the place that you were
And you'll never be the same person again
You'll never get to travel back in time no sir
And that time, indeed, waits for no man
So don't you waste your time looking back on the past
'cause the mistakes that you made don't mean a thing
If life's a fucking drag cause you fucked up the past
You might as well kick the chair and let the rope swing
I'm never going back to Arizona
'til I can buy the place and burn it to the ground
I'm never going back to Santa Rosa
'cause all I see are bodies on the ground
Well everyone I know is either dead or strungout
And the streets are running crimson with their blood
I'm never going back, I'm never going back, I'm never coming back to you my love
I saw you in a dream I don't remember
I remember you as if you were a dream
It's weird how everyone seems different
And nothing is exactly as it seems
Friends become lovers then enemies then friends
And nothing ever really stays the same
But how can you expect to be a friend to a friend
If every time it hurts you run away
That's why I'm never going back to San Francisco
'til the big one knocks it back into the sea
I'm never coming back to San Francisco until you come back to me
So don't you look for me down in the mission
And don't you look for me at Union Square
I'm never coming back, I'm going back, I'm never going back there
I'm never going back, I'm never going back, I'm never going back, anywhere
Lyrics submitted by joelm
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