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.
Walkin' in the park just the other day, baby
What do you what do you think I saw?
Crowds of people sittin' on the grass with flowers in their hair said
"Hey boy, do you want to score?"
And you know how it is
I really don't know what time it was oh, oh
So I asked them if I could stay awhile
I didn't notice but it had got very dark and I was really
Really out of my mind
Just then a policeman stepped up to me and asked us said
"Please, hey, would we care to all get in line"
Get in line
Well, you know
They asked us to stay for tea and have some fun
Oh, oh, he said that his friends would all drop by, oh
Why don't you take a good look at yourself and describe what you see
And baby, baby, baby, do you like it?
There you sit, sitting spare like a book on a shelf rustin'
Ah, not trying to fight it
You really don't care if they're coming oh, oh
I know that it's all a state of mind, oh
If you go down in the streets today, baby, you better
You better open your eyes
Folk down there really don't care, really don't care
Don't care, really don't
Which, which way the pressure lies
So I've decided what I'm gonna do now
So I'm packing my bags for the Misty Mountains
Where the spirits go now
Over the hills where the spirits fly, oh, I really don't know
What do you what do you think I saw?
Crowds of people sittin' on the grass with flowers in their hair said
"Hey boy, do you want to score?"
And you know how it is
I really don't know what time it was oh, oh
So I asked them if I could stay awhile
I didn't notice but it had got very dark and I was really
Really out of my mind
Just then a policeman stepped up to me and asked us said
"Please, hey, would we care to all get in line"
Get in line
Well, you know
They asked us to stay for tea and have some fun
Oh, oh, he said that his friends would all drop by, oh
Why don't you take a good look at yourself and describe what you see
And baby, baby, baby, do you like it?
There you sit, sitting spare like a book on a shelf rustin'
Ah, not trying to fight it
You really don't care if they're coming oh, oh
I know that it's all a state of mind, oh
If you go down in the streets today, baby, you better
You better open your eyes
Folk down there really don't care, really don't care
Don't care, really don't
Which, which way the pressure lies
So I've decided what I'm gonna do now
So I'm packing my bags for the Misty Mountains
Where the spirits go now
Over the hills where the spirits fly, oh, I really don't know
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I'm a huge Zeppelin fan, but I hate this song.
It's awful /0\