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.
There she blows, Jacques Cousteau
Hear her sing so sweet and low
Lull me overboard, out cold
Gathered in and swallowed whole
Yeah do I want to, with all that charm?
Do I want to? Twist my arm
Yeah do I want to, with all that charm?
Do I want to? Twist my arm
You just hit me where I live
I guess it looked quite primitive
What was that supposed to prove?
Throw the calf or he'll throw you
Do I want to, with all that charm?
Do I want to? Twist my arm
Yeah do I want to, with all that charm?
Do I want to? Twist my arm
Sucked in by the victim world
Thirsty as a cultured pearl
Culled and wooed, bitten, chewed
It won't hurt if you don't move
Do I want to, with all that charm?
Do I want to? Twist my arm
Yeah do I want to, with all that charm?
Do I want to? Twist my arm
Yeah musical chairs, double dares, memorized stairs
Shootin' off flares, springtime hares, broken-down mares
Yeah coward phones, big soup stones, prideless loans
Grill sick crows, motel moans and big fat Jones, woo woo
Martyrs don't do much for me
Though I enjoy them vicariously
After you, no! After me
No, I insist! Please, after me
Do I want to? With all that charm?
Do I want you? Twist my arm
Ha, do I want to? With all that charm?
Do I want you? Twist my arm, ah do it
Hear her sing so sweet and low
Lull me overboard, out cold
Gathered in and swallowed whole
Yeah do I want to, with all that charm?
Do I want to? Twist my arm
Yeah do I want to, with all that charm?
Do I want to? Twist my arm
You just hit me where I live
I guess it looked quite primitive
What was that supposed to prove?
Throw the calf or he'll throw you
Do I want to, with all that charm?
Do I want to? Twist my arm
Yeah do I want to, with all that charm?
Do I want to? Twist my arm
Sucked in by the victim world
Thirsty as a cultured pearl
Culled and wooed, bitten, chewed
It won't hurt if you don't move
Do I want to, with all that charm?
Do I want to? Twist my arm
Yeah do I want to, with all that charm?
Do I want to? Twist my arm
Yeah musical chairs, double dares, memorized stairs
Shootin' off flares, springtime hares, broken-down mares
Yeah coward phones, big soup stones, prideless loans
Grill sick crows, motel moans and big fat Jones, woo woo
Martyrs don't do much for me
Though I enjoy them vicariously
After you, no! After me
No, I insist! Please, after me
Do I want to? With all that charm?
Do I want you? Twist my arm
Ha, do I want to? With all that charm?
Do I want you? Twist my arm, ah do it
Lyrics submitted by black_cow_of_death
Twist My Arm Lyrics as written by Gordon Sinclair Gordon Downie
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
That's just it - he's random, and this song just might be too.
I LOVE the accoustics on this.