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.
Bengali, Bengali
Bengali, Bengali
No no no
He does not want to depress you
Oh no no no no no
He only wants to impress you
Oh...
Bengali in platforms
He only wants to embrace your culture
And to be your friend forever
Forever
Bengali, Bengali
Bengali, Bengali
Oh, shelve your Western plans
And understand
That life is hard enough when you belong here
A silver-studded rim that glistens
And an ankle-star that...blinds me
A lemon sole so very high
Which only reminds me; to tell you
Break the news gently
Break the news to him gently
"Shelve your plans; shelve your plans, shelve them"
Bengali, Bengali
It's the touchy march of time that binds you
Don't blame me
Don't hate me
Just because I'm the one to tell you
That life is hard enough when you belong here
That life is hard enough when you belong here
Oh...
Shelve your Western plans
Oh...
Shelve your Western plans
'Cause life is hard enough when you belong
Life is hard enough when you belong here
Oh...
Shelve your Western plans
Oh...
Shelve your best friends
'Cause life is hard when you belong here
Oh...
Life is hard enough when you belong
Bengali, Bengali
No no no
He does not want to depress you
Oh no no no no no
He only wants to impress you
Oh...
Bengali in platforms
He only wants to embrace your culture
And to be your friend forever
Forever
Bengali, Bengali
Bengali, Bengali
Oh, shelve your Western plans
And understand
That life is hard enough when you belong here
A silver-studded rim that glistens
And an ankle-star that...blinds me
A lemon sole so very high
Which only reminds me; to tell you
Break the news gently
Break the news to him gently
"Shelve your plans; shelve your plans, shelve them"
Bengali, Bengali
It's the touchy march of time that binds you
Don't blame me
Don't hate me
Just because I'm the one to tell you
That life is hard enough when you belong here
That life is hard enough when you belong here
Oh...
Shelve your Western plans
Oh...
Shelve your Western plans
'Cause life is hard enough when you belong
Life is hard enough when you belong here
Oh...
Shelve your Western plans
Oh...
Shelve your best friends
'Cause life is hard when you belong here
Oh...
Life is hard enough when you belong
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery
Bengali In Platforms Lyrics as written by Stephen Brian Street Steven Morrissey
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The line "It's hard enough when you belong here" forever repeated, suggests Bengali's DON'T belong here.
National boundaries are nothing more than man made political divisions. I was placed on this Earth by God and consider myself (a Bengali), a citizen of the Planet Earth. Bot of any country. No man has any right to tell me where I can and cannot belog. And where I can and cannot walk freely.
Note: I refer to myself, above, as a Bengali rather than a Bangladeshi, thus identifying myself to my culture and people rather than to the country, Bangladesh -whose ultimate origins lie in an arbitrary British Division of a region of natural distinction.
@IqbalHamid I take it this way: It's hard enough when you belong here, so if you were not born here it's even tougher. It's like that pretty much everywhere. The Irish once were pariahs in the U.S. and they're about as white as white can be. From what I understand there are racist attitudes in Britain, so I take that lyric as a bit of advice to not take it so hard because people are shitty to others who don't fit in as well, for whatever reason.
@IqbalHamid I take it this way: It's hard enough when you belong here, so if you were not born here it's even tougher. It's like that pretty much everywhere. The Irish once were pariahs in the U.S. and they're about as white as white can be. From what I understand there are racist attitudes in Britain, so I take that lyric as a bit of advice to not take it so hard because people are shitty to others who don't fit in as well, for whatever reason.