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 voice on the phone
Telling what had happened,
Some kind of confusion
More like a disaster.
And it wondered how you were left unaffected,
But you had no knowledge.
No, the chemicals covered you.
So a jury was formed
As more liquor was poured.
No need for conviction,
They're not thirsting for justice.
But I slept with the lies I keep inside my head.
I found out I was guilty.
I found out I was guilty.
But I won't be around for the sentencing,
Cause I'm leaving
On the next airplane.
And though I know that my actions are impossible to justify
They seem adequate to fill up my time.
But if I could talk to myself
Like I was someone else,
Well then maybe I could take your advice,
And I wouldn't act like such an asshole all the time.
There's a film on the wall,
Makes the people look small
Who are sitting beside it,
All consumed in the drama.
They must return to their lives once the hero has died.
They will drive to the office
Stopping somewhere for coffee,
Where the folk singers, poets and playwrights convene,
Dispensing their wisdom,
Oh dear amateur orators.
They will detail their pain
In some standard refrain.
They will recite their sadness
Like it's some kind of contest.
Well, if it is, I think I am winning it,
All beaming with confidence
As I make my final lap.
The gold medal gleams
So hang it around my neck
Cause I am deserving it:
The champion of idiots.
But a kid carries his walkman on that long bus ride to Omaha.
I know a girl who cries when she practices violin.
Cause each note sounds so pure, it just cuts into her,
And then the melody comes pouring out her eyes.
Now to me, everything else, it just sounds like a lie
Telling what had happened,
Some kind of confusion
More like a disaster.
And it wondered how you were left unaffected,
But you had no knowledge.
No, the chemicals covered you.
So a jury was formed
As more liquor was poured.
No need for conviction,
They're not thirsting for justice.
But I slept with the lies I keep inside my head.
I found out I was guilty.
I found out I was guilty.
But I won't be around for the sentencing,
Cause I'm leaving
On the next airplane.
And though I know that my actions are impossible to justify
They seem adequate to fill up my time.
But if I could talk to myself
Like I was someone else,
Well then maybe I could take your advice,
And I wouldn't act like such an asshole all the time.
There's a film on the wall,
Makes the people look small
Who are sitting beside it,
All consumed in the drama.
They must return to their lives once the hero has died.
They will drive to the office
Stopping somewhere for coffee,
Where the folk singers, poets and playwrights convene,
Dispensing their wisdom,
Oh dear amateur orators.
They will detail their pain
In some standard refrain.
They will recite their sadness
Like it's some kind of contest.
Well, if it is, I think I am winning it,
All beaming with confidence
As I make my final lap.
The gold medal gleams
So hang it around my neck
Cause I am deserving it:
The champion of idiots.
But a kid carries his walkman on that long bus ride to Omaha.
I know a girl who cries when she practices violin.
Cause each note sounds so pure, it just cuts into her,
And then the melody comes pouring out her eyes.
Now to me, everything else, it just sounds like a lie
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery
Going for the Gold Lyrics as written by Oberst
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"Where the folk singers, poets, and playwrights convene Dispensing their wisdom Oh dear amateur orator They will detail their pain In some standard refrain They will recite their sadness Like it's some kind of contest Well if it is I think I am winning it All beaming with confidence As I make my final lap The gold medal gleams So hang it around my neck Cause I deserve it The champion of idiots" Spell things right kids, but ah well. Great song it is, this is on of my favorite parts...also: "I know a girl who cries when she practices violin cause each note sounds so pure it just cuts into her and then the melody comes pouring out her eyes now to me everything else it just sounds like a lie." I think of it this way...the way he speaks of the sound of a girl's violin and what not, it is the way I think of Conor Oberst's music. Nothing can compare, nothing is as beautiful.