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.
Seen you naked in the bath
Cigarette stains on your hands
Wilted flowers in a vase
I ask how are you
Yeah how are you?
I see the lipstick on your glass
I think you're drunk, I start to laugh
I find your note, the letters ran
It said I love you
Yeah I love you
Don't ask why, don't ask why
Don't ask why, don't ask why
Don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why
Sixteen candles down the drain
I watch you passed out forever
I touch your face, you start to smile
And on your note is my reply
I wish I loved you
I wish I loved you
Don't ask why, don't ask why
Don't ask why, don't ask why
Don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why
Sixteen candles down the drain
(The drain)
Sixteen candles down the drain
(The drain)
Sixteen candles down the drain
(The drain)
Sixteen candles down the drain
(The drain)
Don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why
Don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why
Sixteen candles down the drain
(The drain)
Sixteen candles down the drain
(The drain)
Sixteen candles down the drain
(The drain)
Sixteen candles down the drain
(The drain)
Cigarette stains on your hands
Wilted flowers in a vase
I ask how are you
Yeah how are you?
I see the lipstick on your glass
I think you're drunk, I start to laugh
I find your note, the letters ran
It said I love you
Yeah I love you
Don't ask why, don't ask why
Don't ask why, don't ask why
Don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why
Sixteen candles down the drain
I watch you passed out forever
I touch your face, you start to smile
And on your note is my reply
I wish I loved you
I wish I loved you
Don't ask why, don't ask why
Don't ask why, don't ask why
Don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why
Sixteen candles down the drain
(The drain)
Sixteen candles down the drain
(The drain)
Sixteen candles down the drain
(The drain)
Sixteen candles down the drain
(The drain)
Don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why
Don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why
Sixteen candles down the drain
(The drain)
Sixteen candles down the drain
(The drain)
Sixteen candles down the drain
(The drain)
Sixteen candles down the drain
(The drain)
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Its clearly about a guy finding his 16 year old girlfriend dead in the tub after she commited suicide. The lyrics are pretty straight forward here. I am surprised that most people aren't seeing that.
Seen you naked in the bath Cigarette stains on your hands Wilted flowers in a vase (Flowers wilted because she has been dead for a while) I ask how are you Yeah how are you?
I see the lipstick on your glass I think you're drunk, I start to laugh (At first he doesn't know she's dead. Thinks she is just passed out drunk) I find your note, the letters ran (Found suicide note, and letters ran, like the blood ran from her wrists, as he discovers) It said I love you (Her note says I love you to him) Yeah I love you (He reflects "I love you" toward her)
Don't ask why, don't ask why Don't ask why, don't ask why Don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why (self explanatory)
Sixteen candles down the drain (self explanatory)
I watch you passed out for a while (Again, he doesn't know she's deasd yet at this point) I touch your face, you start to smile (He touches her and manipulates her face in to what could appear to be a"smile", as he is checking to see if she is alive, and realizing she is not) And on your note is my reply I wish I loved you I wish I loved you (self explanatory - he feels guilty for not being there for her more)
Don't ask why, don't ask why Don't ask why, don't ask why Don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why
Sixteen candles down the drain (The drain) Sixteen candles down the drain (The drain) Sixteen candles down the drain (The drain) Sixteen candles down the drain (The drain)
Don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why Don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why
Sixteen candles down the drain (The drain) Sixteen candles down the drain (The drain) Sixteen candles down the drain (The drain) Sixteen candles down the drain (The drain)