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.
I think you got a low self opinion man
I see you standing all by yourself
Unable to express the pain of your distress
You withdraw deeper inside
And everybody else
They wonder what´s on your mind
They got so tired of you
And your self ridicule
They wrote you off and left you behind
You sleep alone at night
You never woder why
All this bitterness wells up inside you
You always victimize
So you can criticize yourself
And all those around you
The hatred you project
Does nothing to protect you
You leave yourself so exposed
You want to open up
When someone says
Lighten up
You find all you doors closed
Get youself a break from self rejection
Try some introspection
And you just might find
It´s not so bad and anyway
At the end of the day
All you have is yourself and your mind
The self hatred that blinds you
Binds you grinds you keeps you down
The world falls down around you
You build up walls around you
You war disgust like a crown
If you could see the you that I see
When I see you seeing me
You´d see yourself so differently
Believe me
I know the self doubt that runs inside your mind
I know the self doubt that treats you so unkind
If you could see the you that I see
When I see you
You would see things differently
I assure you
I see you standing all by yourself
Unable to express the pain of your distress
You withdraw deeper inside
And everybody else
They wonder what´s on your mind
They got so tired of you
And your self ridicule
They wrote you off and left you behind
You sleep alone at night
You never woder why
All this bitterness wells up inside you
You always victimize
So you can criticize yourself
And all those around you
The hatred you project
Does nothing to protect you
You leave yourself so exposed
You want to open up
When someone says
Lighten up
You find all you doors closed
Get youself a break from self rejection
Try some introspection
And you just might find
It´s not so bad and anyway
At the end of the day
All you have is yourself and your mind
The self hatred that blinds you
Binds you grinds you keeps you down
The world falls down around you
You build up walls around you
You war disgust like a crown
If you could see the you that I see
When I see you seeing me
You´d see yourself so differently
Believe me
I know the self doubt that runs inside your mind
I know the self doubt that treats you so unkind
If you could see the you that I see
When I see you
You would see things differently
I assure you
Lyrics submitted by black_cow_of_death
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