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.
Here's the face of trouble
It's the face I wear
And it may invite you in
But I won't go there
Here's a working model
That generates despair
And this baby cranks it out
And it will take you out
And I won't care
It's a beauty
It's the mark of someone
Who's beyond repair
He'll refuse to help yourself
Thinking only of himself
Well, it's your job now
There's a conversation
We're about to have
And it's full of twists and turns
From one who never learns
And I never learn
Here's the face of trouble
It's the face I wear
And it may invite you in
But I won't go there
Here's a working model
That generates despair
And this baby cranks it out
And it will take you out
And I won't care
It's a beauty
It's the mark of someone
Who's beyond repair
He'll refuse to help yourself
Thinking only of himself
Well, it's your job now
There's a conversation
We're about to have
And it's full of twists and turns
From one who never learns
And I never learn
Here's the face of trouble
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