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.
Intravenously polite it was the walkie-talkies
That had knocked the pins down
As their shoes gripped the dirt floor
In the silhouette of dying
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Yeah, they had plans for him
They has spun the last of the pimps
Polyester, satin nailed jewelry lips
While the guillotine just laughed again
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
And the paramedics fell into the wound
Like a rehired scab at a barehanded plant
An anesthetic penance beneath
The hail of contraband
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
They had defected and been excommunicated
And all the pulses were subverted
And they made sure that the obituaries
Showed pictures of smoke stacks
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
A vivid dissection that mocked
The strut of vivisection
A semiautomatic colony
And a silencing that still walks the streets
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
In the company of wolves
Was a stretcher made of cobblestone curfews
The federales performed
Their custodial customs quite well
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
Intravenously polite it was the walkie-talkies
That had knocked the pins down
As their shoes gripped the dirt floor
In the silhouette of dying
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Yeah, they had plans for him
They has spun the last of the pimps
Polyester, satin nailed jewelry lips
While the guillotine just laughed again
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
And the paramedics fell into the wound
Like a rehired scab at a barehanded plant
An anesthetic penance beneath
The hail of contraband
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Callous heels numbed in travel
Endless maps made by their scalpels, scalpels
Callous heels numbed in travel
Endless maps made by their scalpels, scalpels
That had knocked the pins down
As their shoes gripped the dirt floor
In the silhouette of dying
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Yeah, they had plans for him
They has spun the last of the pimps
Polyester, satin nailed jewelry lips
While the guillotine just laughed again
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
And the paramedics fell into the wound
Like a rehired scab at a barehanded plant
An anesthetic penance beneath
The hail of contraband
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
They had defected and been excommunicated
And all the pulses were subverted
And they made sure that the obituaries
Showed pictures of smoke stacks
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
A vivid dissection that mocked
The strut of vivisection
A semiautomatic colony
And a silencing that still walks the streets
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
In the company of wolves
Was a stretcher made of cobblestone curfews
The federales performed
Their custodial customs quite well
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
Intravenously polite it was the walkie-talkies
That had knocked the pins down
As their shoes gripped the dirt floor
In the silhouette of dying
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Yeah, they had plans for him
They has spun the last of the pimps
Polyester, satin nailed jewelry lips
While the guillotine just laughed again
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
And the paramedics fell into the wound
Like a rehired scab at a barehanded plant
An anesthetic penance beneath
The hail of contraband
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Callous heels numbed in travel
Endless maps made by their scalpels, scalpels
Callous heels numbed in travel
Endless maps made by their scalpels, scalpels
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