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.
Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity caught stars
In her arms
Hello, Hello Kitty happy in New York City
Amity walking like a lucky
Charm
I'm a neon sign and I stay open all the time
So let's go, go, go, go
Amity Amity God don't make no
Junk but it's plain to see
He still made me
He told me so
I'm good to go
I'm ready to go
Cause you laugh and talk
And 'cause you
Make my world rock
I'm so, so, so, so
Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity good to go
In her arms
Hello, Hello Kitty happy in New York City
Amity walking like a lucky
Charm
I'm a neon sign and I stay open all the time
So let's go, go, go, go
Amity Amity God don't make no
Junk but it's plain to see
He still made me
He told me so
I'm good to go
I'm ready to go
Cause you laugh and talk
And 'cause you
Make my world rock
I'm so, so, so, so
Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity good to go
Lyrics submitted by EnjOy IncUbus
Amity Lyrics as written by Steven Paul Smith
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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well heres his answer in an interview: elliott: it’s a really unguarded song - i made up the lyrics in a couple of minutes and didn’t change them. i like the way it feels, although it’s not an especially deep song at all.
pc: no, not at all. but i love the feel of it. i was dancing around my basement a la uma thurman in “pulp fiction”. elliott: [laughs] it’s, i don’t know... just a big rock song. it’s a pretty simple song. it’s not so much about the words themselves, but more about how the whole thing sounds. some friends of mine said it sounded like i was trying to get something romantic going with someone, and that’s not what it was supposed to be about. it was supposed to be, “you’re really fun to be with and i really like you a lot because of that, but i am really, really depressed.” but i don’t know if that came across. when i said, “ready to go,” it was supposed to mean tired of living.
pc: oh?! like, ready to check out of this world? elliott: yeah. sorry to make the song depressing for you now. [both laugh]
pc: that’s ok, i’ll still listen. i, too, had thought there was a romantic element to that song. i wondered if the word “amity” was a play on the french word “amite.” elliott: actually, it’s a person i know.
pc: my favorite part of the song is where you sing, “’cause you laugh and talk/and ‘cause you make my world rock!” it’s such a departure from your usual style of writing, i liked the carefree aspect of it. i remember thinking that most songwriters couldn’t write those lyrics and get way with it. if anyone else had written that, i would have thought, “what a moron!” elliott: yeah. [laughs] yeah.
pc: but you’re intelligent and your lyrics are so clever that i got the feeling you were purposely letting loose and having fun with the song. elliott: it was very simple. i was saying, “i really like you and it’s really great to hang out with someone who is happy and easy-going, but i don’t feel like that and i can’t be with you.