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.
[TryHardNinja]
Not just a collection of letters
You'd better get to know my gamertag
Learn and get used to my name
'Cause I'm staying
Right here and I'm feeling better than ever
Still the only way is up
As long as I'm here and that's not gonna change
It's funny how it turns out when you're not expecting it
Still remember playing Call of Duty 4 without ejecting it
Every moment I had free
I was on it day and night
And although I'm not proud of it
It even caused a couple fights
And free for all was the mode for me
Friends list like forever alone
Being stuck on MT
But the minute that I made that gamertag
The track to the top
One way, no turning back
One destination
I'm always tip-toeing closer
Towards it everyday
For better or worse
Now hundreds of thousands of you
Have grown to know my name
And now I thank you cause my life
Will never be told to be the same
And all of this I owe to a video game?
This new found popularity still got my mind racing
Can't even sign online without finding
Four or five brand new friend invitations
And through it all one things holds tried and true
You made your own name, what you do with it is up to you
Not just a collection of letters
You'd better get to know my gamertag
Learn and get used to my name
'Cause I'm staying
Right here and I'm feeling better than ever
Still the only way is up
As long as I'm here and that's not gonna change
[Brysi]
Yeah
I put the disk in the tray
Kick back, relax, C-O-D all day
Voting on a map everybody starts screaming
"Hey look we're playing with Brysi, I can't believe it!"
They know my name, they know what I do
Machinima director look me up on YouTube
Playing video game for a living, kind crazy
Used to play for fun but now I play because they pay me
I've come a long way since back in the day
My original gamertag wasn't easy to say
B-1-2-Y-4-N-5-1-M-0-N
It's no wonder why I could never make any friends
But then my channel blew up after the Black Ops rap
I got some Microsoft points and changed my gamertag
Not just a collection of letters, but something true
Something from the heart: "Brysi Loves You"
[TryHardNinja]
Not just a collection of letters
You'd better get to know my gamertag
Learn and get used to my name
'Cause I'm staying
Right here and I'm feeling better than ever
Still the only way is up
As long as I'm here and that's not gonna change
My name, I made it for myself
Yeah, I did it for myself
Then I made it mean something to everybody else
Now the people I've looked up to are asking me for help
And that's gotta be the greatest feeling that I've ever felt
But I started as a noob, and yeah it's true that it was tough
I dedicated myself and through practice I came up
My name started to climb the scoreboards and lobbies
From last to first, the roles reversed, they start to recognize me
'Cause at the end of the day, it's about the video game
About proving yourself on the most awesome stage
Now tell them your name, and go give them hell
In this gaming community that we built for ourselves
'Cause it's not about the sub count
Or how many friends you can get
It's not the number of favorites
Or the tournament checks
It's not the best editing
Or the YouTube hits
Just me alone with my controller
Trying to prove that it's
Not just a collection of letters
You'd better get to know my gamertag
Learn and get used to my name
'Cause I'm staying
Right here and I'm feeling better than ever
Still the only way is up
As long as I'm here and that's not gonna change
Not just a collection of letters
You'd better get to know my gamertag
Learn and get used to my name
'Cause I'm staying
Right here and I'm feeling better than ever
Still the only way is up
As long as I'm here and that's not gonna change
It's funny how it turns out when you're not expecting it
Still remember playing Call of Duty 4 without ejecting it
Every moment I had free
I was on it day and night
And although I'm not proud of it
It even caused a couple fights
And free for all was the mode for me
Friends list like forever alone
Being stuck on MT
But the minute that I made that gamertag
The track to the top
One way, no turning back
One destination
I'm always tip-toeing closer
Towards it everyday
For better or worse
Now hundreds of thousands of you
Have grown to know my name
And now I thank you cause my life
Will never be told to be the same
And all of this I owe to a video game?
This new found popularity still got my mind racing
Can't even sign online without finding
Four or five brand new friend invitations
And through it all one things holds tried and true
You made your own name, what you do with it is up to you
Not just a collection of letters
You'd better get to know my gamertag
Learn and get used to my name
'Cause I'm staying
Right here and I'm feeling better than ever
Still the only way is up
As long as I'm here and that's not gonna change
[Brysi]
Yeah
I put the disk in the tray
Kick back, relax, C-O-D all day
Voting on a map everybody starts screaming
"Hey look we're playing with Brysi, I can't believe it!"
They know my name, they know what I do
Machinima director look me up on YouTube
Playing video game for a living, kind crazy
Used to play for fun but now I play because they pay me
I've come a long way since back in the day
My original gamertag wasn't easy to say
B-1-2-Y-4-N-5-1-M-0-N
It's no wonder why I could never make any friends
But then my channel blew up after the Black Ops rap
I got some Microsoft points and changed my gamertag
Not just a collection of letters, but something true
Something from the heart: "Brysi Loves You"
[TryHardNinja]
Not just a collection of letters
You'd better get to know my gamertag
Learn and get used to my name
'Cause I'm staying
Right here and I'm feeling better than ever
Still the only way is up
As long as I'm here and that's not gonna change
My name, I made it for myself
Yeah, I did it for myself
Then I made it mean something to everybody else
Now the people I've looked up to are asking me for help
And that's gotta be the greatest feeling that I've ever felt
But I started as a noob, and yeah it's true that it was tough
I dedicated myself and through practice I came up
My name started to climb the scoreboards and lobbies
From last to first, the roles reversed, they start to recognize me
'Cause at the end of the day, it's about the video game
About proving yourself on the most awesome stage
Now tell them your name, and go give them hell
In this gaming community that we built for ourselves
'Cause it's not about the sub count
Or how many friends you can get
It's not the number of favorites
Or the tournament checks
It's not the best editing
Or the YouTube hits
Just me alone with my controller
Trying to prove that it's
Not just a collection of letters
You'd better get to know my gamertag
Learn and get used to my name
'Cause I'm staying
Right here and I'm feeling better than ever
Still the only way is up
As long as I'm here and that's not gonna change
Lyrics submitted by MrPerson
Not Just a Collection of Letters (feat. Brysi) song meanings
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Well, in my opinion this song is about being a young & maybe a little naive &/or introverted girl and finding yourself loving a man who is at first very charming, carefree & outgoing, and seems at first to be without limits, as in
"There was a time
you opened up every doorway
you didn't mind if everything
wasn't your way"
then that man starts to gradually become more introverted & shows their more possessive/obsessive side to you as the relationship progresses, even while they keep up the appearance of being carefree & outgoing to everyone else,
"Don't pull away
that goes against what you told me
I look in your eyes
I realize what you've sold me
is love in a vacuum"
so you confront them about the way they're acting and of course they deny it,
"I think you've changed
but you insist that
that's not true"
quite possibly they are an addict of some sort, my guess would be cocaine, &/or showing very obsessive behavior towards you (early on in the video for this song we see the man hanging a picture up, it is a very large portrait of Aimee & it is prominently displayed in his/their apartment for the duration of the song), thus their "love in a vacuum",
"You look so strange, so distant
that you're hardly you
Now I can see
how you have been acting different
You say it's me
but I know
that it isn't
it's love in a vacuum"
but still you are in love with them and don't want to leave them and you know that they are truly in love with you and they don't want you to leave them either, maybe they are convinced you can save them from themself, maybe they are so broken that the possibility of an overdose &/or suicide attempt is very real and you want to get through to them that their behavior not only dangerous but it is also just pissing you off and if they don't wise up they run the risk of loosing you, as in the lines
"You will be lonely
if you leave me alone", so you want to save them but can't get through to them due to the addiction &/or emotional problems they have,
"Love in a vacuum
and that's not enough
love in a vacuum
You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
You will be lonely
if you leave me alone
You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
it's just not enough"
you want them to understand that the love they are giving you is not enough when it is filtered through the vacuum of their drug addiction &/or emotional impairment,
"You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
it's just not enough
and just wait
you will be lonely
Love in a vacuum
Love in a vacuum
and that's not enough
Love in a vacuum".
'Love In A Vacuum' for me is a hauntingly truthful acute argument on the loneliness of obsession and almost inevitable loss of love that follows people who are broken in some way or another; the obsessives, the coke heads, the drunks, addicts or the just-plain-old emotionally broken; a razor sharp, lyrically driven, deceptively poppy, yet ultimately-depressing-in-the-best-way song.
Quintessential Aimee Mann.
Siberian Kiss
Glassjaw
Glassjaw
its amazing how far music can come.. 24 years after it released and its one of the most heartfelt songs ive heard
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Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.