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.
Julie says
John I'm getting nowhere
I wrote this letter
Hope to get to some place soon
I want to get up
When I wake up
But when I get up
I fall down
Julie wake up
Julie tell the story
You wrote the letter
Said you were gonna get there someday
Gonna walk in the sun
And the wind and the rain
Never walk back again
Now you fall down
You're falling down
You fall down
You fall down
Julie say something
Julie say you're sorry
You're gonna get better
You better not leave me here anyway
I want to get up
When you wake up
When I get up
I fall down
When I'm falling down
I fall down
I broke myself
I fall
I fall down
I'm falling down
I'll fall down
When you fall down
When I'm falling down
Is when you're falling down
When you fall down
I'll fall down
I fall down
John I'm getting nowhere
I wrote this letter
Hope to get to some place soon
I want to get up
When I wake up
But when I get up
I fall down
Julie wake up
Julie tell the story
You wrote the letter
Said you were gonna get there someday
Gonna walk in the sun
And the wind and the rain
Never walk back again
Now you fall down
You're falling down
You fall down
You fall down
Julie say something
Julie say you're sorry
You're gonna get better
You better not leave me here anyway
I want to get up
When you wake up
When I get up
I fall down
When I'm falling down
I fall down
I broke myself
I fall
I fall down
I'm falling down
I'll fall down
When you fall down
When I'm falling down
Is when you're falling down
When you fall down
I'll fall down
I fall down
Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira
I Fall Down Lyrics as written by Dave Evans Adam Clayton
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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He certainly did earn that reputation.
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Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Oddly enough, this song was written prior to a relationship that seemed to mimic the story rather closely. A cat known as Pod from the Virgin Prunes was working as a roadie for U2 on their American tour in support for October, and he fell in love with a woman named Julie. She had been let on stage to dance with Bono at either the March 17th or 18th show at the Ritz. Anyhow, Bono's not exactly sure who Julie in the song was based on, but that's really odd coincidence.
But here's one even odder.
This song was first played live April 17th, 1981 at the show at Bogart's Club in Cincinnati, Ohio. The following night they played their first show in Detroit, Michigan, my hometown.
The last time they played the song was purportedly April 18th, 1985 at the The Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts.
I've been a fan of U2 since I was four and I first caught the With or Without You video on MTV. I think it was probably that E-Bow The Edge was using, maybe it was the overall harmony, I don't know. They've been my favorite band ever since, and I wear the mark "U2" on my right shoulder in thick, black-inked letters with pride (pun intended).
It wasn't until 10 years later when I got a book for Christmas that had some fairly accurate outlining of U2's tours up until the first few shows of the PopMart tour (which I'd been to a couple months earlier) that I read what really, really blew me away.
The first time they'd ever played my hometown was two years to the day before I was born. The fact that this song's first and last play so closely matches that date two years on both sides kind of creeps me out and gives the song some special meaning for me.
The song was a "coincidence" for that relationship, I really wonder if it's a "coincidence" for me.