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.
When she said, "Don't waste your words, they're just lies"
I cried she was deaf
And she worked on my face until breaking my eyes
And saying "What else you got left?"
It was then that I got up to leave
But she said, "Don't forget
Everybody must give something back
For something they get"
I stood there and hummed, I tapped on her drum
I asked her how come
And she buttoned her boot, and straightened her suit
And she said, "Don't be cute"
So I forced my hands in my pockets
And felt with my thumbs
And gallantly handed her my very last piece of gum
She threw me outside, I stood in the dirt
Where everyone walked
And, when finding out I'd forgotten my shirt
I went back and knocked
I waited in the hallway, she went to get it
And I tried to make sense
Out of that picture of you in your wheelchair
That leaned up against
Her Jamaican rum, and when she did come
I asked her for some
She said, "No, dear", I said, "Your words are not clear
You'd better spit out your gum"
She screamed till her face got so red
Then she fell on the floor
And, I covered her up and then went and looked through her drawer
And when I was through, I filled up my shoe
And brought it to you
And you, you took me in, you loved me then
You never wasted time
And I, I never took much, I never asked for your crutch
Now don't ask for mine
I cried she was deaf
And she worked on my face until breaking my eyes
And saying "What else you got left?"
It was then that I got up to leave
But she said, "Don't forget
Everybody must give something back
For something they get"
I stood there and hummed, I tapped on her drum
I asked her how come
And she buttoned her boot, and straightened her suit
And she said, "Don't be cute"
So I forced my hands in my pockets
And felt with my thumbs
And gallantly handed her my very last piece of gum
She threw me outside, I stood in the dirt
Where everyone walked
And, when finding out I'd forgotten my shirt
I went back and knocked
I waited in the hallway, she went to get it
And I tried to make sense
Out of that picture of you in your wheelchair
That leaned up against
Her Jamaican rum, and when she did come
I asked her for some
She said, "No, dear", I said, "Your words are not clear
You'd better spit out your gum"
She screamed till her face got so red
Then she fell on the floor
And, I covered her up and then went and looked through her drawer
And when I was through, I filled up my shoe
And brought it to you
And you, you took me in, you loved me then
You never wasted time
And I, I never took much, I never asked for your crutch
Now don't ask for mine
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I don't think so. It's just about expectations from love/relationships. The girl expects him to give and is upset when he doesn't deliver, instead of just letting the relationship happen and being content with such an experience.