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.
Slowly fading blue
The eastern hollows catch
The dying sun
Night-time follows
Silence and black
Mirror pool mirrors
The lonely place
Where I meet you
See your head
In the fading light
And through the dark
Your eyes shine bright
And burn
Like fire
Burn like fire in Cairo
Burn like fire
Burn like fire in Cairo
Shifting crimson veil
Silken hips slide
Under my hand
Swollen lips whisper
My name
And I yearn
You take me in your arms
And start to burn
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
Then the heat disappears
And the mirage
Fades away
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
Burn like a fire in Cairo
Burn like a
Fire
Blaze like a fire in Cairo
Blaze like a
Fire
Flare
Burn like fire
Burn like
Fire in Cairo
The eastern hollows catch
The dying sun
Night-time follows
Silence and black
Mirror pool mirrors
The lonely place
Where I meet you
See your head
In the fading light
And through the dark
Your eyes shine bright
And burn
Like fire
Burn like fire in Cairo
Burn like fire
Burn like fire in Cairo
Shifting crimson veil
Silken hips slide
Under my hand
Swollen lips whisper
My name
And I yearn
You take me in your arms
And start to burn
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
Then the heat disappears
And the mirage
Fades away
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
F-I-are-E-I-N-see-A-I-are-O
Burn like a fire in Cairo
Burn like a
Fire
Blaze like a fire in Cairo
Blaze like a
Fire
Flare
Burn like fire
Burn like
Fire in Cairo
Lyrics submitted by oofus, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Fire in Cairo Lyrics as written by Michael Stephen Dempsey Laurence Andrew Tolhurst
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song is supposed to be an imaginary Egyptian dream song. The whole "Boys Don't Cry" album seems to have the same middle-eastern feel.
@theexplodinggirl I wouldn't say that of the whole album, but quite a few of the songs have references to exotic or "Eastern" type locations or people, or have music with a sort of Middle Eastern feel. (Of course, "Killing an Arab," which appears on the American version of the album, is — ironically — a reference to the novel L'Etranger by the French existentialist Albert Camus!)