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.
I started this
It's all for me
What's yours is yours and mine is mine
That's plain to see
So give it up
I've got to have
I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW
Be aggressive
B-e aggressive
B-e a-g-g-r-e-s-s-i-v-e
What someone else
Would leave behind
And spit it out, let go to waste
I claim is mine
You're my flavor of the week
I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW
Tall and reckless
Ugly seed
Reach down my throat
You filthy bird
That's all I need
This empty pit
I've got to feed
To prove I'm fit
A healthy man I've got to be
Malnutrition, my submission
You're the master
And I take it on my knees
Ejaculation
Tribulation
I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW
Be aggressive
B-e aggressive
B-e a-g-g-r-e-s-s-i-v-e
Go, fight, go, fight, go, fight, win
It's all for me
What's yours is yours and mine is mine
That's plain to see
So give it up
I've got to have
I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW
Be aggressive
B-e aggressive
B-e a-g-g-r-e-s-s-i-v-e
What someone else
Would leave behind
And spit it out, let go to waste
I claim is mine
You're my flavor of the week
I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW
Tall and reckless
Ugly seed
Reach down my throat
You filthy bird
That's all I need
This empty pit
I've got to feed
To prove I'm fit
A healthy man I've got to be
Malnutrition, my submission
You're the master
And I take it on my knees
Ejaculation
Tribulation
I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW
Be aggressive
B-e aggressive
B-e a-g-g-r-e-s-s-i-v-e
Go, fight, go, fight, go, fight, win
Lyrics submitted by jt
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No I know for a fact... that its about giving a blow job. Roddy Bottum, who is Faith No More's keyboard player, is gay and wrote the song because he thought it would be funny for a straight guy (Mike Patton) to sing about giving head.