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.
Brewing alternatives
What's in the bottom drawer
Waiting for things to give
Spare us the cutter
Spare us the cutter
Couldn't cut the mustard
Conquering myself
Until I see another hurdle approaching
Say we can, say we will
Not just another drop in the ocean
Come to the free for all
With cellotape & knives
Some of them six feet tall
We will escape our lives
Spare us the cutter
Spare us the cutter
Couldn't cut the mustard
Conquering myself
Until I see another hurdle approaching
Say we can, say we will
Not just another drop in the ocean
Am I the happy loss
Will I still recoil
When the skin is lost
Am I the worthy cross
Will I still be soiled
When the dirt is off
Conquering myself
Until I see another hurdle approaching
Say we can, say we will
Not just another drop in the ocean
Ocean
Watch the fingers close
When the hands are cold
Am I the happy loss
Will I still recoil
When the skin is lost
Am I the worthy cross
Will I still be soiled
When the dirt is off
Am I the happy loss
Will I still be soiled
When the dirt is off
What's in the bottom drawer
Waiting for things to give
Spare us the cutter
Spare us the cutter
Couldn't cut the mustard
Conquering myself
Until I see another hurdle approaching
Say we can, say we will
Not just another drop in the ocean
Come to the free for all
With cellotape & knives
Some of them six feet tall
We will escape our lives
Spare us the cutter
Spare us the cutter
Couldn't cut the mustard
Conquering myself
Until I see another hurdle approaching
Say we can, say we will
Not just another drop in the ocean
Am I the happy loss
Will I still recoil
When the skin is lost
Am I the worthy cross
Will I still be soiled
When the dirt is off
Conquering myself
Until I see another hurdle approaching
Say we can, say we will
Not just another drop in the ocean
Ocean
Watch the fingers close
When the hands are cold
Am I the happy loss
Will I still recoil
When the skin is lost
Am I the worthy cross
Will I still be soiled
When the dirt is off
Am I the happy loss
Will I still be soiled
When the dirt is off
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Thank you, OneTwo, for valuable insights that make me believe I GET this song to some extent. I agree with what you say, but would like to add additional elements for anyone's interpretation:
A "cutter" is slang for a film or TV editor. It's done differently in this century, but originally it comes from cutting 35mm film reels. "Cutting" also applies to audiotape, and when this song was made, physically cutting Cello tape was probably still done. Great musical stuff, best-riff-ever stuff which was recorded was literally cut out. Spare us.
I take note that Major Valor pointed out that 'Couldn't cut the mustard" line. I'm American, it's a common US term, and the fact that it's not "Major Valour" tells me the Major is also American. A quick run on the web indicates it's an American idiom. Thus, I read that line as Ian's take on some American A&R guy's bullsh*t line to the band. "Yeah, that band, couldn't cut the mustard, but you, boy, have a cigar, you're gonna go far" Hope that makes sense. ANYWAY.
And I always heard it as "We will escape with our lives", curiously enough. Hey maybe that "with" was cut, eh? But "We will escape our lives..." That's bliss. Bliss. Buddhism teaches it. Sit on a rock and meditate it. Or get yourself from it.
But "We will escape /with/ our lives" could be referring to EATB's six-foot sound mixer (their Cutter?) or the Bunnymen. A six-foot tall guy has a leg up on life, many inches on most, won't get beat up as much, if our singer and his six-foot bandmates don't make it as a Bunnymen, it's onto another part of life, right? Sell shoes, or whatever.
"watch the fingers close when the hands are cold" - to me, this is suggestion the body's death, and the rigor mortis that happens, wherein muscles tense, and fingers can curl into a fist. The next step is to be buried in the dirt, and Then comes the question of whether the mere mortal has shed the mortal coil, and is either cleansed or dirtied -in body and soul - with the achievements of the life here on this Earthen rock.
I like OneTwo's interpretation of (worthy cross / will i still be soiled / when the dirt is off), but I read it differently. I'm not plugging a certain faith, but the Christian story of Jesus's Ascension is what i first read into it. Such a reference is not surprising, considering -I must guess - Ian is likely a traditional-born Scot. The glorious elements of the bagpipes in the music near the end seem to support the lyrics.
Hey, and, gnuorder, yeah, it's about struggling. Fighting self and doubt and life and all that stuff that makes it interesting. You are gauging, and this is not a measurable opinion pull. You found a great song. Don't just read stuff. Talk and tell whatever friends, strangers, maybe even jerks like a doctor about it. Give it a full-on year. It is a song about struggle. Spare us. The Cutter.
Wonderful song. Let's hear more.