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.
There's a ghost out in the hall
There's a ghoul beneath the bed
Now it's coming through the walls
Now it's coming up the stairs
There's a spirit in the dark
Hear the beating of his heart
Can you feel it in the air?
Ghosts be hiding everywhere
I'm gonna be
Exactly what you want to see
It's you who's haunting me
You're warning me
To be the stranger in your life
Am I amusing you or just confusing you?
Am I the beast you visualized?
And if you want to see eccentralities
I'll be grotesque before your eyes
Let them all materialize
Is that scary for you, baby?
Am I scary for you? Oh
Is it scary for you, baby?
Is it scary for you?
You know the stranger is you?
Is it scary for you, baby?
There's a creaking in the floor
There's a creep behind the door
There's a rocking in the chair
But nobody's sitting there
There's a ghastly smell around
But nobody to be found
And a coughin' and a yawnin'
Where restless soul's spoke
I'm gonna be
Exactly what you gonna see
So did you come to me
To see your fantasies
Performed before your very eyes
A haunting ghostly treat
The foolish trickery
And spirits dancing in the light
But if you came to see
The truth, the purity
It's here inside, a lonely heart
So let the performance start
Is that scary for you, baby
Am I scary for you, oh
Am I scary for you, baby
Am I scary for you
So tell me, is it scary for you, baby?
Tell me, woo
So tell me, is it scary for you, baby?
Am I scary for you
You know the stranger is you
Am I scary for yaou?
Masquerade the heart
Is the height of hurting souls
Just not what you seek of me
'Cause the heart reveals the proof
Like a mirror reveals the truth
See the evil one is you
Now, is that scary for you, baby?
Am I scary for you? Oh boy
Am I scary for you, baby?
Am I scary for you? Oh, boy
There's a ghoul beneath the bed
Now it's coming through the walls
Now it's coming up the stairs
There's a spirit in the dark
Hear the beating of his heart
Can you feel it in the air?
Ghosts be hiding everywhere
I'm gonna be
Exactly what you want to see
It's you who's haunting me
You're warning me
To be the stranger in your life
Am I amusing you or just confusing you?
Am I the beast you visualized?
And if you want to see eccentralities
I'll be grotesque before your eyes
Let them all materialize
Is that scary for you, baby?
Am I scary for you? Oh
Is it scary for you, baby?
Is it scary for you?
You know the stranger is you?
Is it scary for you, baby?
There's a creaking in the floor
There's a creep behind the door
There's a rocking in the chair
But nobody's sitting there
There's a ghastly smell around
But nobody to be found
And a coughin' and a yawnin'
Where restless soul's spoke
I'm gonna be
Exactly what you gonna see
So did you come to me
To see your fantasies
Performed before your very eyes
A haunting ghostly treat
The foolish trickery
And spirits dancing in the light
But if you came to see
The truth, the purity
It's here inside, a lonely heart
So let the performance start
Is that scary for you, baby
Am I scary for you, oh
Am I scary for you, baby
Am I scary for you
So tell me, is it scary for you, baby?
Tell me, woo
So tell me, is it scary for you, baby?
Am I scary for you
You know the stranger is you
Am I scary for yaou?
Masquerade the heart
Is the height of hurting souls
Just not what you seek of me
'Cause the heart reveals the proof
Like a mirror reveals the truth
See the evil one is you
Now, is that scary for you, baby?
Am I scary for you? Oh boy
Am I scary for you, baby?
Am I scary for you? Oh, boy
Lyrics submitted by indianajones014
Is It Scary Lyrics as written by James Iii Harris Michael Jackson
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Very poetic , artistic and poignant way of expressing what happened to him with the media.