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.
Under the sun
There's nothing to hide
Under the moon
A stranger waits inside
People disappear
The music fades away
Splashing through the rain
I'll dream with them one day
It's raining, raining
On the streets of New York City
It's raining, raining
Raining deep in heaven
I may have wasted all those years
They're not worth their time in tears
I may have spent too long in darkness
In the warmth of my fears
Take a look at yourself
Not at anyone else
And tell me what you see
I know the air is cold
I know the streets are cruel
But I'll enjoy the ride today
It's raining, raining
On the streets of New York City
It's raining, raining
Raining deep in heaven
Raining deep in heaven
I may have wasted all those years
They're not worth their time in tears
I may have spent too long in darkness
In the warmth of my fears
And as I walk through all my myths
Rising and sinking like the waves
With my thoughts wrapped around me
Through a trial of tears
Hidden by disguise
Stumbling in a world
Feeling uninspired
He gets into his car
Not within his eyes to see
Open up, open up
Not much better than the man you hate
Still awake
I continue to move along
Cultivating my own nonsense
Welcome to the wasteland
Where you'll find ashes
Nothing but ashes
Still awake
Bringing change
Bringing movement, bringing life
A silent prayer
Thrown away
Disappearing in the air
Rising
Sinking
Raining deep inside me
Nowhere to turn
I look for a way back home
It's raining, raining
Raining deep in heaven
It's raining, raining
Raining deep in heaven
It's raining, raining
Raining deep in heaven
It's raining, raining
Raining deep in heaven
There's nothing to hide
Under the moon
A stranger waits inside
People disappear
The music fades away
Splashing through the rain
I'll dream with them one day
It's raining, raining
On the streets of New York City
It's raining, raining
Raining deep in heaven
I may have wasted all those years
They're not worth their time in tears
I may have spent too long in darkness
In the warmth of my fears
Take a look at yourself
Not at anyone else
And tell me what you see
I know the air is cold
I know the streets are cruel
But I'll enjoy the ride today
It's raining, raining
On the streets of New York City
It's raining, raining
Raining deep in heaven
Raining deep in heaven
I may have wasted all those years
They're not worth their time in tears
I may have spent too long in darkness
In the warmth of my fears
And as I walk through all my myths
Rising and sinking like the waves
With my thoughts wrapped around me
Through a trial of tears
Hidden by disguise
Stumbling in a world
Feeling uninspired
He gets into his car
Not within his eyes to see
Open up, open up
Not much better than the man you hate
Still awake
I continue to move along
Cultivating my own nonsense
Welcome to the wasteland
Where you'll find ashes
Nothing but ashes
Still awake
Bringing change
Bringing movement, bringing life
A silent prayer
Thrown away
Disappearing in the air
Rising
Sinking
Raining deep inside me
Nowhere to turn
I look for a way back home
It's raining, raining
Raining deep in heaven
It's raining, raining
Raining deep in heaven
It's raining, raining
Raining deep in heaven
It's raining, raining
Raining deep in heaven
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To my mind it's these lines in which the "meaning" of the song concentrates the most vividly.
"As I walk through all my myths Rising and sinking like the waves With my thoughts wrapped around me Through a trial of tears"
It's about having become jaded and uninspired, facing an inner trial which judges that one has "wasted all those years", it's about doubting who you really are. That also goes together with:
"Under the sun, there is nothing to hide Under the moon, a stranger waits inside"
When the sun is high you have nothing to hide, all is clear and your path is ahead of you, but then comes a time when you notice the sun is gone and the moon is up there, and doubt arises, you ask "who am I?" and thus "a stranger waits inside". The rain that's mentioned throughout is a deliberately created setting for thoughts like these. Rain is like tears in a way.
@kristaps_k Really like that interpretation. If I may add, I have always thought that much of the lyrics are about a journey through oneself, an inner search; the subject is really, really depressed, something terrible happened to him in the past that left him utterly uninspired, without any glimpse of hope. The chorus “…it’s raining, raining…” it’s, what I interpret as a metaphor about his loss, his misfortune. Anyway, I love how the song ends, I have always felt that the instrumental closing section gives your a tiny ray of light, there’s hope! Even after this person goes to the extreme of sensing that Heaven won’t offer deliverance and his expectations will be clearly unmatched. Somehow, there is a sense of relief.<br /> A classic song, a much interesting an underrated album!<br /> <br /> Credit goes to Daily Doug, for his inspiring and in depth review of this particular song!