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.
People I know, places I go
Make me feel tongue tied
But I can see how people look down
They're on the inside
Here's where the story ends
People I see, weary of me
Showing my good side
I can see how people look down
I'm on the outside
Here's where the story ends
Ooh, here's where the story ends
It's that little souvenir of a terrible year
Which makes my eyes feel sore
Oh, I never should have said the books that you read
Were all I loved you for
It's that little souvenir of a terrible year
Which makes me wonder why
It's the memories of your shed that make me turn red
Surprise, surprise, surprise
Crazy I know, places I go
Make me feel so tired
And I can see how people look down
I'm on the outside
Oh, here's where the story ends
Ooh, here's where the story ends
It's that little souvenir of a terrible year
Which makes my eyes feel sore
And who ever would've thought the books that you brought
Were all I loved you for
Oh, the devil in me said, "Go down to the shed"
I know where I belong
But the only thing I ever really wanted to say
Was wrong, was wrong, was wrong
It's that little souvenir of a colorful year
Which makes me smile inside
So I cynically, cynically say the world is that way
Surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise
Here's where the story ends
Ooh, here's where the story ends
Make me feel tongue tied
But I can see how people look down
They're on the inside
Here's where the story ends
People I see, weary of me
Showing my good side
I can see how people look down
I'm on the outside
Here's where the story ends
Ooh, here's where the story ends
It's that little souvenir of a terrible year
Which makes my eyes feel sore
Oh, I never should have said the books that you read
Were all I loved you for
It's that little souvenir of a terrible year
Which makes me wonder why
It's the memories of your shed that make me turn red
Surprise, surprise, surprise
Crazy I know, places I go
Make me feel so tired
And I can see how people look down
I'm on the outside
Oh, here's where the story ends
Ooh, here's where the story ends
It's that little souvenir of a terrible year
Which makes my eyes feel sore
And who ever would've thought the books that you brought
Were all I loved you for
Oh, the devil in me said, "Go down to the shed"
I know where I belong
But the only thing I ever really wanted to say
Was wrong, was wrong, was wrong
It's that little souvenir of a colorful year
Which makes me smile inside
So I cynically, cynically say the world is that way
Surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise
Here's where the story ends
Ooh, here's where the story ends
Lyrics submitted by spliphstar
Here's Where the Story Ends Lyrics as written by Harriet Ella Wheeler David Richard Gavurin
Lyrics © Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I have been looking all over for confirmation of this, but I swear I heard somewhere that this song was about a relationship Harriet Wheeler had with a woman in her small town, or maybe it was fictionally about that. But the idea is that the whole town kind of knows about their rendezvous and, on account of the time in which the song was written and the size of the town in which the song takes place, she is judged harshly by her neighbors for it. The “shed” in question is a metaphor for a metaphor-the closet, which she wasn’t ready to come out of at that time. Even she wants to minimize the importance of the relationship to her, claiming she was only attracted to this woman because of the books they were mutually interested in. That’s as much as I remember; speculation on this thread further makes me wonder if she decided she was just curious and, combined with the pressures of her surroundings, she decides to end the relationship, though she continues to wonder what she really felt throughout. She tries to dismiss the whole affair and its sad conclusion as just the way the world is, but even in doing it she realizes that she broke a heart just as surely as her own was broken. In real life she’s apparently married with kids to her co-writer and guitarist, so this interpretation is probably incorrect, but this is what I always think about when I hear it.