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.
This could last us all a lifetime
Limbs intact, untouched
On the screen of a video tape
Confined to bedposts
We wait as lepers
Upheld at knife's reach
We covet all the status quo
This syringe will take a lifespan
It's filled with bait and tackle
Try and catch us if you can
[Chorus:]
Sacrifice on railroad tracks
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
Unconscious tied and gagged
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
Sacrifice on railroad tracks
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
Meet us at the corner
Of fifth and Pontiac
Make sure that no one else is with you
If you wish to see them alive again
Then humor me with this request
Humor me with this request
In basements we will hide
Amnesia in our alibis
[Chorus]
Sacrifice on railroad tracks
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
Unconscious tied and gagged
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
Sacrifice on railroad tracks
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
They kept a close eye, on your get well incentive [Repeat: x2]
[Chorus x2]
Sacrifice on railroad tracks
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
Unconscious tied and gagged
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
Sacrifice on railroad tracks
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
Limbs intact, untouched
On the screen of a video tape
Confined to bedposts
We wait as lepers
Upheld at knife's reach
We covet all the status quo
This syringe will take a lifespan
It's filled with bait and tackle
Try and catch us if you can
[Chorus:]
Sacrifice on railroad tracks
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
Unconscious tied and gagged
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
Sacrifice on railroad tracks
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
Meet us at the corner
Of fifth and Pontiac
Make sure that no one else is with you
If you wish to see them alive again
Then humor me with this request
Humor me with this request
In basements we will hide
Amnesia in our alibis
[Chorus]
Sacrifice on railroad tracks
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
Unconscious tied and gagged
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
Sacrifice on railroad tracks
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
They kept a close eye, on your get well incentive [Repeat: x2]
[Chorus x2]
Sacrifice on railroad tracks
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
Unconscious tied and gagged
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
Sacrifice on railroad tracks
Freight train coming [Repeat: x2]
Lyrics submitted by Victim of a Down
Enfilade Lyrics as written by Jim Ward Cedric Bixler
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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whoa there, are you sure, einstein? don't think TOO hard about it, now.
Yeah but also drugs - 'This syringe will take a lifespan It's filled with bait and tackle Try and catch us if you can'.
I always thought it said "at leisure in our alibis" which to me sounds better and makes more sense IMO "/
I did too.
The meaning of the song is totally clear. He is obviously talking about a kidnapping and a ransom. the beginning of the song totally gives it away. if you have the cd youll know what i mean.
this song seems to be about kidnappers or kidnapping, at the beginning of the song there is a ransom phone call, and the lyrics "Make sure that no one else is with you If you wish to see them alive again" and "Sacrifice on railroad tracks Freight train coming" are dead give-aways.
OK u guys seriously listen up, ATD-I uses imagery. So it SEEMS to be about kidnapping, most likely a person, now figure out wut they are kidnapping by arranging the words in simpler phrases. Just like i did with quarantined. ATD-I always has deeper meaning.
They said in an interview... they paist a bunch of Jim's poetry together... and create lyrics.. . just a thought.... i think this song is about, drug dealing... and the life of people assoicated..
a drug habit can hold someone captive in far more severe ways than a kidnapping....think about it. It feels like......
is that Iggy Pop speaking at the start - see his name is on the cd inlay card but he doesn't sing on any songs...
he sings on the song rolodex propaganda
thats him in the opening, you know the hyena
iggy pop sings on rolodex propaganda, and yes that is him at the beginning.