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.
Grab the day by the scruff of the neck
Pull your wellies on
Then all try to squeeze into a Renault
16
Look at Daddy, he thinks he's in a rally
Look at Guiness, the Red Setter,
drooling on my sweater
So we march, march, march to the
top of the hill
To rhe Grianan of Aileach
Where the wind will whistle in form
the west
Steal the breath from your chest
Push you over on the way back down
If we're good today Daddy just might
play
I've seen it once or twice
Desmond says he does quite
important stuff
And Desmond's always right
Out they come, Like a rocket, from
the boot
Bushy, Carly, Tippy, Guiness, and a
Cairn named Sue
The boys run fast but the dogs run
faster
They knock you down as they tumble
passed you
Bang, bang, bang, we're pretending
to be soldiers
The ones we've seen in the green
Land Rovers
Mummy, Mummy, Mummy, can you
hold my coat
You don't feel the cold when you're
seven years old
If we're good today Daddy just might
play
I've seen it once or twice
Desmond says he does quite
important stuff
And Desmond's always right
And through the woods
And through the woods go two small
boys
The darkness wraps-around
We soldier on, we have no choice
It is our task
Our noble task to lead the way
so those who lag behind
Can follow on without delay
We clear a swathe
we cut a swathe through jungle thick
Our machete's travel quick
Beheading all that's in our way
Then slowly we
We start to feel that something's
wrong
Where have the others gone?
They should have been along by now
We're walking back
We're running back from whence we
came
But nothing looks the same
And now the game's no longer fun
Then Brendan says ...
Then Brendan shouts ...
Then Brendan screams ...
Do you know what this means?
WE ARE LOST!
(panting noises)
We call their names
We call but there is no reply
Just the rustling of the leaves
Among the branches way up high
What have we done?
Where will we go?
How will we live?
Where's the nearest orphanage?!
(spoken)
There you are!
Come on then ...
Grab the day ... ect
Never leaving your side again
Never going to hide again
Never going astray again
Never wandering away again
Never leaving the pack again
Leaving the beaten track again
Never losing the team again
Never ever to be seen again
Pull your wellies on
Then all try to squeeze into a Renault
16
Look at Daddy, he thinks he's in a rally
Look at Guiness, the Red Setter,
drooling on my sweater
So we march, march, march to the
top of the hill
To rhe Grianan of Aileach
Where the wind will whistle in form
the west
Steal the breath from your chest
Push you over on the way back down
If we're good today Daddy just might
play
I've seen it once or twice
Desmond says he does quite
important stuff
And Desmond's always right
Out they come, Like a rocket, from
the boot
Bushy, Carly, Tippy, Guiness, and a
Cairn named Sue
The boys run fast but the dogs run
faster
They knock you down as they tumble
passed you
Bang, bang, bang, we're pretending
to be soldiers
The ones we've seen in the green
Land Rovers
Mummy, Mummy, Mummy, can you
hold my coat
You don't feel the cold when you're
seven years old
If we're good today Daddy just might
play
I've seen it once or twice
Desmond says he does quite
important stuff
And Desmond's always right
And through the woods
And through the woods go two small
boys
The darkness wraps-around
We soldier on, we have no choice
It is our task
Our noble task to lead the way
so those who lag behind
Can follow on without delay
We clear a swathe
we cut a swathe through jungle thick
Our machete's travel quick
Beheading all that's in our way
Then slowly we
We start to feel that something's
wrong
Where have the others gone?
They should have been along by now
We're walking back
We're running back from whence we
came
But nothing looks the same
And now the game's no longer fun
Then Brendan says ...
Then Brendan shouts ...
Then Brendan screams ...
Do you know what this means?
WE ARE LOST!
(panting noises)
We call their names
We call but there is no reply
Just the rustling of the leaves
Among the branches way up high
What have we done?
Where will we go?
How will we live?
Where's the nearest orphanage?!
(spoken)
There you are!
Come on then ...
Grab the day ... ect
Never leaving your side again
Never going to hide again
Never going astray again
Never wandering away again
Never leaving the pack again
Leaving the beaten track again
Never losing the team again
Never ever to be seen again
Lyrics submitted by CommentGuy
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