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.
walking.
just walking expecting to fall,
i walk on.
i love the candle holder you gave me.
inside sits a pink one,
the one you found at that rummage sale.
it's all like a dream,
being washed away by the waves,
it will never stop,
and if i am this dream,
i shall never wake,
never.
it sits crooked like your smile,
always crooked like your...smile.
i can no longer touch you with my blood stained hands,
it's all on the floor in puddles.
it's only distance love,
just three thousand miles,
lover.
somewhere in kansas like two kites flying,
i'll meet you there,
that's where i learned to fly.
i have no excuses,
the words are there and i am here and you are there,
three thousand miles from a smile,
walking,
just walking,
expecting to fall,
i walk on.
so where is home?
it's where you are.
just walking expecting to fall,
i walk on.
i love the candle holder you gave me.
inside sits a pink one,
the one you found at that rummage sale.
it's all like a dream,
being washed away by the waves,
it will never stop,
and if i am this dream,
i shall never wake,
never.
it sits crooked like your smile,
always crooked like your...smile.
i can no longer touch you with my blood stained hands,
it's all on the floor in puddles.
it's only distance love,
just three thousand miles,
lover.
somewhere in kansas like two kites flying,
i'll meet you there,
that's where i learned to fly.
i have no excuses,
the words are there and i am here and you are there,
three thousand miles from a smile,
walking,
just walking,
expecting to fall,
i walk on.
so where is home?
it's where you are.
Lyrics submitted by d_lacy
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mostly what i hate about emo bands is how whiny, beta and hetero the inevitable white boy vocalists/lyrics always are. (this is one of the factors in why rainer maria is my favorite emo band.) there's just a few of them that pull it off so fucking well you can sort of forgive them for spawning so many shitty imitators. september is one of those bands, and this is one of those songs.