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.
The story's in the soil
Loose leaves cover the ground
There are volumes in the forest no one reads out loud
If I could take them down, off of that mountain shelf
We used to climb but no one tries to go up that far now
Yeah, we're all too busy working
Entertaining ourselves
40 hours, television, and prescription pills
Well, I take two a day to make my brain behave
It never does, but who's to say?
At least my doctor gets paid
So that is fine, yeah, come by
We'll take the afternoon off
We can kiss and undress
Or if you want, just talk
Because I have got nothing real
Just empty space to fill
And you're my girl, I like your style
Just imagine all the time we could kill
And time's not poison
But once you drink it all, you'll die
So let's just sip it real slow
Yeah, we can nurse it all night
Try to believe that once it's gone
They'll pour another round, we'll come back to life
Yeah, we'll come right back...
It's all moving fast now, yeah
And that's what they say
And though some days still take forever
I can't disagree
Because it seems to me
That I wake up and sleep
Look in the mirror and have no idea
What happened in-between
But I remember counting days down
Until the year could be done
So I could scatter all my notebooks on the prep school lawn
And disappear into a summer's bliss
Of staying out and sleeping in
And getting drunk with my friends
And that's gone and I know
That it won't ever come back
I accept, I won't cling to what I had in the past
But life is a slippery slope
Regret the steepest hill
Hope for the best, plan for the worst
And maybe wind up somewhere in the middle
And I'm not saying that I know what I want
But I know what I don't
Don't want to rot in my room
And never know what could have been
Believe what everyone else tells me is true...
Yeah, what they'll say; "True!"
That is what they'll say
That's it
Believe what everyone else tells me is true
They will say: "True!"
That is what they'll say
That's it...
Loose leaves cover the ground
There are volumes in the forest no one reads out loud
If I could take them down, off of that mountain shelf
We used to climb but no one tries to go up that far now
Yeah, we're all too busy working
Entertaining ourselves
40 hours, television, and prescription pills
Well, I take two a day to make my brain behave
It never does, but who's to say?
At least my doctor gets paid
So that is fine, yeah, come by
We'll take the afternoon off
We can kiss and undress
Or if you want, just talk
Because I have got nothing real
Just empty space to fill
And you're my girl, I like your style
Just imagine all the time we could kill
And time's not poison
But once you drink it all, you'll die
So let's just sip it real slow
Yeah, we can nurse it all night
Try to believe that once it's gone
They'll pour another round, we'll come back to life
Yeah, we'll come right back...
It's all moving fast now, yeah
And that's what they say
And though some days still take forever
I can't disagree
Because it seems to me
That I wake up and sleep
Look in the mirror and have no idea
What happened in-between
But I remember counting days down
Until the year could be done
So I could scatter all my notebooks on the prep school lawn
And disappear into a summer's bliss
Of staying out and sleeping in
And getting drunk with my friends
And that's gone and I know
That it won't ever come back
I accept, I won't cling to what I had in the past
But life is a slippery slope
Regret the steepest hill
Hope for the best, plan for the worst
And maybe wind up somewhere in the middle
And I'm not saying that I know what I want
But I know what I don't
Don't want to rot in my room
And never know what could have been
Believe what everyone else tells me is true...
Yeah, what they'll say; "True!"
That is what they'll say
That's it
Believe what everyone else tells me is true
They will say: "True!"
That is what they'll say
That's it...
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So that is fine, yeah, come by We'll take the afternoon off We can kiss and undress Or if you want just talk Because I have got nothing real Just empty space to fill And you are my girl, I like your style Just imagine all the time we could kill
Reminds me of my beau. Just walking the streets of New Orleans with him in the heat after he got off work, going back to his house to make love and smoke weed. heh.. gash I love this song.