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.
Modern industrial life
Takes your soul in its fangs
We might as well be all washed away
If I don’t hang on tight, if I let myself stray
I will lose my sight and I will be washed away
And, oh, some days I walk my own
Oh, my own pace
It takes away the heartache
It seems no one has their own eyes
And we all speak from the cage
Are we living in fright
Consenting to be washed away
I’ll lose my heart, my own eyes
I’ll lose the smell of the rain
As I walk, aimless in the night
I will be washed away
And, oh, some days I brush the palm
Oh, of my hand
Across the face of this forgotten land
I left my print in the sand
Organic mark made
I got up and walked in the night
And I refused to be washed away
The burden of modern life
The heart it beats and it prays
Forever to walk in the night
And never be washed away
And, oh, some days I walk my own
Oh, my own pace
It takes away the heartache
And oh some days, I brush the palm
Oh, of my hand
Across the face of this forgotten land
Takes your soul in its fangs
We might as well be all washed away
If I don’t hang on tight, if I let myself stray
I will lose my sight and I will be washed away
And, oh, some days I walk my own
Oh, my own pace
It takes away the heartache
It seems no one has their own eyes
And we all speak from the cage
Are we living in fright
Consenting to be washed away
I’ll lose my heart, my own eyes
I’ll lose the smell of the rain
As I walk, aimless in the night
I will be washed away
And, oh, some days I brush the palm
Oh, of my hand
Across the face of this forgotten land
I left my print in the sand
Organic mark made
I got up and walked in the night
And I refused to be washed away
The burden of modern life
The heart it beats and it prays
Forever to walk in the night
And never be washed away
And, oh, some days I walk my own
Oh, my own pace
It takes away the heartache
And oh some days, I brush the palm
Oh, of my hand
Across the face of this forgotten land
Lyrics submitted by Talitres
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