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.
So this is permanent, love's shattered pride
What once was innocence, turned on its side
A cloud hangs over me, marks every move
Deep in the memory, what once was love
Oh, how I realized how I wanted time
Put into perspective, tried so hard to find
Just for one moment, thought I'd found my way
Destiny unfolded, I watched it slip away
Excessive flashpoints, beyond all reach
Solitary demands for all I'd like to keep
Let's take a ride out, see what we can find
Valueless collection of hopes and past desires
I never realized the lengths I'd have to go
All the darkest corners of a sense I didn't know
Just for one moment, I heard somebody call
Looked beyond the day in hand, there's nothing there at all
Now that I've realized how it's all gone wrong
Gotta find some therapy, this treatment takes too long
Deep in the heart of where sympathy held sway
Gotta find my destiny before it gets too late
What once was innocence, turned on its side
A cloud hangs over me, marks every move
Deep in the memory, what once was love
Oh, how I realized how I wanted time
Put into perspective, tried so hard to find
Just for one moment, thought I'd found my way
Destiny unfolded, I watched it slip away
Excessive flashpoints, beyond all reach
Solitary demands for all I'd like to keep
Let's take a ride out, see what we can find
Valueless collection of hopes and past desires
I never realized the lengths I'd have to go
All the darkest corners of a sense I didn't know
Just for one moment, I heard somebody call
Looked beyond the day in hand, there's nothing there at all
Now that I've realized how it's all gone wrong
Gotta find some therapy, this treatment takes too long
Deep in the heart of where sympathy held sway
Gotta find my destiny before it gets too late
Lyrics submitted by typo, edited by giantsquid, nmazidi, BlumpkinLord
Twenty Four Hours Lyrics as written by Ian Kevin Curtis Bernard Sumner
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Spirit Music Group
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This about the day Ian totally fell apart beyond any hope, with only his willpower to maintain his life (and he lost even that). It's about living all your mistakes in the span of a day. Everything goes wrong, you are a total idiot, and don't understand enough of what you need to know. And he's hurting badly for company he can't find.