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.
Everything is falling apart, yes I am
Watching me watch birds watch people.
I wear my bow tie to bed,
Because I'm waiting for the gorgeous young man
Hiding in the spaces.
That darkness hides gorgeous young men.
Everything is falling apart, yes I am
Watching me watch birds watch people.
If we are only waiting here to die.
At least let me put my arms around you.
Why try to keep it from myself,
When it feels so good to sing about love?
Everything is falling apart, yes I am
Watching me watch birds watch people.
I wear my bow tie to bed,
Because I'm waiting for the gorgeous young man
Hiding in the spaces.
That darkness hides gorgeous young men.
Everything is falling apart, yes I am
Watching me watch birds watch people.
If we are only waiting here to die.
At least let me put my arms around you.
Why try to keep it from myself,
When it feels so good to sing about love?
Everything is falling apart, yes I am
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This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
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It does feel good to sing about luv :-d
I think he's talking about dreaming
i just think it's an early example of the uber-obtuse lyrics that made them what they are in the eyes of most folks.
If we are only waiting here to die. At least let me put my arms around you.
what a great line
I think he is sleeping alone and is dreaming of himself being a tree as a direct simile to his own life. The line about "everything is falling apart, yes I am" is about his life and the tree itself continually losing leaves in the fall. His life as he knows it is approaching the winter, when trees die; i.e. the end of his relationship. So as he sleeps alone and knows that his significant other isn't around he is hoping that he could at least be held and loved and treated like another human being before things fall apart and they finally break up. Wearing the bowtie to bed is like preparing for a date that he knows he'll be stood up on, he's holding onto hope and wishing that he won't be sleeping alone again. Even though he knows they aren't really in love (anymore) he wants to still "sing about love" because even though death (breakup) is imminent things don't have to be terrible. There's plenty of time for pain and sadness once it's over, but he is hoping that on the way down they can still try and find some comfort at least before everything crashes.
I love this song and the guitar on the chorus line is amazing and I wish this song was 20 minutes long.
this is very easily my favorite of montreal song.
its excellent.
I really like SamanthaSecretAgent's analysis, although I don't know if I totally agree on the tree simile.
Can anyone help me understand the line, "Watching me watch birds watch people"??
Oh, I so agree with Samantha's interpretation. I am going through what this song talking about, minus the gorgeous young man parts. For me, it's a girl. Shit, love sucks. Holding onto the threads of a relationship that tearing apart is painful.