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've prepared myself for anyone in my life to leave
And focused much too much on exit strategies for me
I never said I'm brought a greater peace of mind from this technique
But goddamn it, I'm locked in habit and I never expected to get free
To get free
Lojii
Make it count, take your shot
When you play the block, play it cool, don't make it hot
You might have to flip a key, you might have break a lock
Keep a tight circle, free my cousin out that box
See, on my block, they don't hide it in they sock
Empty vials Milly Rock all over that blacktop
Where they quick to shoot they neighbor before they shoot at the cops
Always spinnin' 'round the clock, never stop
Where eviction notices be on the top lock
So if I lose my roof, ain't talkin' bout no drop top
My neighbors cookin' up they rent, but no, not in a Crockpot
Got all the smoke, they love to turn the block into a hotbox
Nonstop, police posted on the corner, steady lurkin'
Like the corner boys won't go inside the corner store to serve ya
Who want what? Who need what? Got it, go and place your order
And you better keep a burner for extorters
Uh, I been hangin' 'round here, uh, way too much
Most of y'all Bruce Waynes lookin', uh, way Ku Klux
Y'all don't know how to break outta here? Oh, well, shucks
I guess relyin' on you niggas was my true crutch, sheesh
Crucify a nigga, locked up to the beam
Streetlights got a staple for every year that they have seen
Me and my niggas use its power to carry out our schemes
I guess that's why I'm used to suns warmth on me
But the rays grew wings upon my back
And I look to the ground, my peoples feathers ain't intact
From sticky situations to blickies up on vacation
Either way, the hand is hot and I don't keep my peoples waiting
My niggas know Marxism more than Karl's corpse
'Cause the language that they use came directly from the source
So for now, we extend our hand, shadow on its course
Grippin' everything the light touch, directly from the porch
I pray you never get a glimpse of my stance
You better head for the hills when I do my lil' dance, cause
I thought this rappin' would calm the insanity
Instead extend your hand with this power, causes calamity
Fuck
I became vigilant through hypersensitivity
Something as small as a sigh can become a tell to me
While relearning to trust my mind
I recognized I still knew sincerity
Through the people who simply never sent me
Down the line of its questioning
My man Don in OKC
Once spoke to my relationships through my mentality
He said, "The problem with Black nationalism
Is that everything is a conspiracy"
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And y'all don't know the niggas I hang with
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And y'all don't know the niggas I hang with
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And y'all don't know the niggas I hang with
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And y'all don't know the niggas I hang with
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And y'all don't know the niggas I hang with
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And y'all don't know the niggas I hang with
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And y'all don't know the niggas I hang with
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And y'all don't know the niggas I hang with
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And focused much too much on exit strategies for me
I never said I'm brought a greater peace of mind from this technique
But goddamn it, I'm locked in habit and I never expected to get free
To get free
Lojii
Make it count, take your shot
When you play the block, play it cool, don't make it hot
You might have to flip a key, you might have break a lock
Keep a tight circle, free my cousin out that box
See, on my block, they don't hide it in they sock
Empty vials Milly Rock all over that blacktop
Where they quick to shoot they neighbor before they shoot at the cops
Always spinnin' 'round the clock, never stop
Where eviction notices be on the top lock
So if I lose my roof, ain't talkin' bout no drop top
My neighbors cookin' up they rent, but no, not in a Crockpot
Got all the smoke, they love to turn the block into a hotbox
Nonstop, police posted on the corner, steady lurkin'
Like the corner boys won't go inside the corner store to serve ya
Who want what? Who need what? Got it, go and place your order
And you better keep a burner for extorters
Uh, I been hangin' 'round here, uh, way too much
Most of y'all Bruce Waynes lookin', uh, way Ku Klux
Y'all don't know how to break outta here? Oh, well, shucks
I guess relyin' on you niggas was my true crutch, sheesh
Crucify a nigga, locked up to the beam
Streetlights got a staple for every year that they have seen
Me and my niggas use its power to carry out our schemes
I guess that's why I'm used to suns warmth on me
But the rays grew wings upon my back
And I look to the ground, my peoples feathers ain't intact
From sticky situations to blickies up on vacation
Either way, the hand is hot and I don't keep my peoples waiting
My niggas know Marxism more than Karl's corpse
'Cause the language that they use came directly from the source
So for now, we extend our hand, shadow on its course
Grippin' everything the light touch, directly from the porch
I pray you never get a glimpse of my stance
You better head for the hills when I do my lil' dance, cause
I thought this rappin' would calm the insanity
Instead extend your hand with this power, causes calamity
Fuck
I became vigilant through hypersensitivity
Something as small as a sigh can become a tell to me
While relearning to trust my mind
I recognized I still knew sincerity
Through the people who simply never sent me
Down the line of its questioning
My man Don in OKC
Once spoke to my relationships through my mentality
He said, "The problem with Black nationalism
Is that everything is a conspiracy"
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And y'all don't know the niggas I hang with
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And y'all don't know the niggas I hang with
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And y'all don't know the niggas I hang with
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And y'all don't know the niggas I hang with
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And y'all don't know the niggas I hang with
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And y'all don't know the niggas I hang with
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And y'all don't know the niggas I hang with
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
And y'all don't know the niggas I hang with
It's a spiritual level of gang shit
Lyrics submitted by furyroad97
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Ave Grave
Thee More Shallows
Thee More Shallows
Spirit Within
Bertoldi Brothers
Bertoldi Brothers
Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
when rules change
Life in Your Way
Life in Your Way
High life
Battle Royale
Word Alive, The
Word Alive, The
This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
Step
Ministry
Ministry
Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.