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.
Do you know the cost of future misery?
Have you lost your sense of sustainability?
We are just a step away
From realizing what we strive to be
But we've got to break out
From this insulated blind and lame senility
Wake up the new america
Wo-oh!
Transcend the mass hysteria
Wo-oh!
Change is the thing you're wary of
Wo-oh!
We need a new america
Wo-oh!
Laurels, human triumph,
Bestowments from the past
Victories don't mean a thing
If they don't last
We are just marching toward extinction
With blinders on our eyes
Jeopardizing everything
We've learned and come to realize
You call that wise?
Open your eyes america
Wo-oh!
See through the lies they tell to us
Wo-oh!
Confront the fears that worry us
Wo-oh!
We need a new america
Wo-oh!
We don't have to be afraid to re-invent
We've got to start to build,
Progress, and implement
For when we take our fill,
And never pay the price
We only build ourselves a fleeting,
False paradise
You can live in staunch denial
And mark me as your enemy
But I'm just a voice among the throng
Who want a brighter destiny
They say with me
We are the new america
Wo-oh!
This is the new america?
Wo-oh
Have you lost your sense of sustainability?
We are just a step away
From realizing what we strive to be
But we've got to break out
From this insulated blind and lame senility
Wake up the new america
Wo-oh!
Transcend the mass hysteria
Wo-oh!
Change is the thing you're wary of
Wo-oh!
We need a new america
Wo-oh!
Laurels, human triumph,
Bestowments from the past
Victories don't mean a thing
If they don't last
We are just marching toward extinction
With blinders on our eyes
Jeopardizing everything
We've learned and come to realize
You call that wise?
Open your eyes america
Wo-oh!
See through the lies they tell to us
Wo-oh!
Confront the fears that worry us
Wo-oh!
We need a new america
Wo-oh!
We don't have to be afraid to re-invent
We've got to start to build,
Progress, and implement
For when we take our fill,
And never pay the price
We only build ourselves a fleeting,
False paradise
You can live in staunch denial
And mark me as your enemy
But I'm just a voice among the throng
Who want a brighter destiny
They say with me
We are the new america
Wo-oh!
This is the new america?
Wo-oh
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
I knew this song would be one of my favorites after just the first line: "Do you know the cost of future misery?" To me, that is our society's failure-to much short term thinking, to much self gratification...
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