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.
Waking into nightmares
All I see is black
I am trapped inside
A chamber for the mind
The voices will appear
Once I shut my eyes
Fall into the shadow
Enter the beyond
Spectral asylum
The walls are closing in
I am locked inside
A dungeon for the night
There's nowhere I can run
When the killer lives inside
Fall into the shadow
Far, far beyond
Spectral asylum
Spectral asylum
Voices fill my mind, they are gnawing through the cracks
I see my own reflection and another face looks back
Searching for release from the darkness in my mind
I close my eyes to sleep, and all I see are knives
I can't get out
Spectral asylum
Spectral asylum
All I see is black
I am trapped inside
A chamber for the mind
The voices will appear
Once I shut my eyes
Fall into the shadow
Enter the beyond
Spectral asylum
The walls are closing in
I am locked inside
A dungeon for the night
There's nowhere I can run
When the killer lives inside
Fall into the shadow
Far, far beyond
Spectral asylum
Spectral asylum
Voices fill my mind, they are gnawing through the cracks
I see my own reflection and another face looks back
Searching for release from the darkness in my mind
I close my eyes to sleep, and all I see are knives
I can't get out
Spectral asylum
Spectral asylum
Lyrics submitted by Kingofstilport
Spectral Asylum Lyrics as written by Carlos Cruz Adam Carroll
Lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
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