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.
The death of the party
Came as no surprise
Why did we bother?
Should have stayed away
Another night
And I thought, "Well, well"
Go to another party and hang myself
Gently on the shelf
The death of the teenager
Standing on his own
Why did he bother?
Should have slept alone
Another night
And I thought, "Well, well"
Go to another party and hang myself
Gently on the shelf
Another night
And I thought, "Well, well"
Go to another party and hang myself
Gently on the shelf
Came as no surprise
Why did we bother?
Should have stayed away
Another night
And I thought, "Well, well"
Go to another party and hang myself
Gently on the shelf
The death of the teenager
Standing on his own
Why did he bother?
Should have slept alone
Another night
And I thought, "Well, well"
Go to another party and hang myself
Gently on the shelf
Another night
And I thought, "Well, well"
Go to another party and hang myself
Gently on the shelf
Lyrics submitted by sawg, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Death of a Party Lyrics as written by David Rowntree Steven Alexander James
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
After Barack Obama and the Dems' complete dismantling of the Republican party last night, I went to bed with my iPod on shuffle...and guess what? This song comes on! The title itself is just so appropriate...
Of course the song isn't about that, being written more than ten years before the event, but I've been listening to the song on repeat and it truly is amazing...it foreshadows the type of work Albarn would do with the Gorillaz. One of the gems from their self-titled album.
I'm not sure if the lyrics are meant to be political...it surely doesn't seem so. Reading some of the other comments, the death of Britpop seems more applicable, but for some reason I don't believe it even goes that deep...it seems just to be about depression and boredom, which are themes I can relate to at this time in my life.