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.
She dresses in black everyday
She keeps her hair simple and plain
She never wears make-up
But no one would care if she did anyway
She doesn't recall yesterday
Faces seem twisted and strange
But she always wakes up
Only to find she'd been miles away
Absence of awareness losing time
A lapse of perception losing time
Wanting to escape
She had created a way to survive
She learned to detach
From herself a behavior that kept her alive
Hope in the face of our human distress
Helps us to understand
The turbulence deep inside
That takes hold of our lives
Shame and disgrace over mental unrest
Keeps us from saving those we love
The grace within our hearts
And the sorrow in our souls
Deception of fame, vengeance of war
Lives torn apart, losing oneself
Spiralling down, feeling the walls closing in
A journey to find the answers inside our illusive mind
She keeps her hair simple and plain
She never wears make-up
But no one would care if she did anyway
She doesn't recall yesterday
Faces seem twisted and strange
But she always wakes up
Only to find she'd been miles away
Absence of awareness losing time
A lapse of perception losing time
Wanting to escape
She had created a way to survive
She learned to detach
From herself a behavior that kept her alive
Hope in the face of our human distress
Helps us to understand
The turbulence deep inside
That takes hold of our lives
Shame and disgrace over mental unrest
Keeps us from saving those we love
The grace within our hearts
And the sorrow in our souls
Deception of fame, vengeance of war
Lives torn apart, losing oneself
Spiralling down, feeling the walls closing in
A journey to find the answers inside our illusive mind
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As a sufferer of anxiety disorder and all that comes with it (depression etc)....this is just describing how things fall into place when you've managed to trudge through the worst of it.
"She doesn't recall yesterday Faces seem twisted and strange But she always wakes up Only to find she'd been miles away"
When you've been warring with yourself for so long, things sort of run together, and you start to lose your sense of time and place. It's hard to describe, but it's a very disturbing feeling because you have little moments of reality when everything sinks in. When you realize "you've been miles away".
Wanting to escape She had created a way to survive She learned to detach from herself A behavior that kept her alive
I dont see this line as creating a split personality. It's just in your distress you want to escape from yourself. And this verse is especially true for me. With all my anxiety problems, and my time with my psychiatrist, I indeed found a way to survive. I found a way to use what was bothering me to my advantage, thus taking the power out of my fears. "Detaching myself" from them in a sense. Without the fear powering my worries, I was able to not focus on them, and indeed detach myself from them. It really was what made the difference. "kept me alive". The last part of the song, is simply less about the girl and just about our mind in general. Hope in the face of our human distress" really resonated with me. Because, even when I was at my worst, I simply wanted a way out. And as thus, it really did help me learn more about myself and my "illusive mind". And the part about shame keeping us from saving the ones we love, that is also very true. If my parents and friends hadn't of helped me through that time of my life, I don't know where I would be today. And indeed shame was a big part of my problem. I had a lot of troubles accepting that I had a mental disorder. And when I finally did I fell apart. It took several long months to see it wasn't so bad. But indeed, I felt like I was crazy. And because of my family and friends, I was able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. that is just my two cents.
Oh. <br /> But yes.<br /> I could also see this song being about a girl with split personality.<br /> That's what I love about music. <br /> Interpretation.
One of the most common traits of an individual suffering from dissociative personality disorder is the DISSOCIATIVE FUGUE: epsisodes of suddenly leaving home or place of work without any explanation, traveling to another city, and being unable to remember his or her past or identity. He or she may assume a new identity (Videbeck, pg. 203).<br /> Hence the line: "But she only wakes up to find she had been miles away."<br /> My nursing school module is currently covering mental health and I've been listening to 6DoiT constantly. I am VERY HAPPY TO REPORT that DT has nailed it with 98% or better in terms of accuracy with regards to the pathophysiology and treatments of some of these illnesses. The "shock treatment" or Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) mentioned in "The TEst That Stumped Them All" is only used nowadays to treat depression and other depressive disorders not treatable by psychopharmacological means. However, it was used prior to the 1950's before Atypical Antipsychotic Medications became available to treat Schizophrenia and other associated disorders. I bring up TTTSTA because it was unclear as to what the "timeline" the individual suffering from Schizophrenia is living in. But the fact that the guy in TTTSTA "thinks" he's a rockstar tends to implicate the present times ('90's to present)?<br /> <br /> bibliography:<br /> Videbeck, S.L. (2008). PSYCHIATRIC-MENTAL HEALTH NURSING 4th ed. Philadelphia: Wolters <br /> Kluwer/Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.