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.
A silent river flowing black
strange attractions no turning back
present danger I recall
that pins my senses to the wall
back from the edge where the darkness has fled
and I'm swimming
in light and I'm falling... falling from the edge...
back from the edge
I fell from grace and that's a fact
still have urges I fight back
cold decisions wear me thin
kill yourself begin again
back from the fear
that you're not worth a damn
throw yourself
into light and the rush as you
sign from the edge...
back from the edge...
now and then I wonder where the faces
from my childhood have gone
like father like son your bones it lives on glowing shadows
back from the edge
strange attractions no turning back
present danger I recall
that pins my senses to the wall
back from the edge where the darkness has fled
and I'm swimming
in light and I'm falling... falling from the edge...
back from the edge
I fell from grace and that's a fact
still have urges I fight back
cold decisions wear me thin
kill yourself begin again
back from the fear
that you're not worth a damn
throw yourself
into light and the rush as you
sign from the edge...
back from the edge...
now and then I wonder where the faces
from my childhood have gone
like father like son your bones it lives on glowing shadows
back from the edge
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What a chorus, man. Best Skunkworks song by a mile. I agree with Turbo Speed, it HAS to be about addiction (because if it isn't about that, then my mind will be spinning).