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.
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin' and I'll try
I'm tryin' and I'll try
Imagine if you were Herr Barockter
Alias and nobleman
Son of son of sky, and of scion
Part of his rich inheritance
Parceled and generous divorce
Sentence forthwith, being
Certain blocks of land
And living quarters deemed
By all gentlemen
And wives thereof
To be grossly humane
And frankly, quite un-dirty
Herr Barockter
In his enviable good taste
Tries quick escape gambit
Via local periodicals
But no takers, land an enviable station
In the conduit between two selves
A veritable no-man's land
Array of the flophouse, cardboard materials
And carbon-monoxide wallpaper
All his brig-deck Torino boys ask
Is irrelevant
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin' and I'll try
I'm tryin' and I'll try
Unable to bear the scandal, Ray, philanthropist
Rents low-down scab house in conduit
Herr Barockter offers said land for a song
But no one wants to sing
In an attempt to retain social privileges
Yet mask it as goodwill,
He says to the conduit members:
"Take this rotten old tree and make it bear fruit"
Cheers erupted throughout the thin settlement
An Italian male was heard to say
"Between here and there
Is better than either here or there!"
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin' and I'll try
I'm tryin' and I'll try
I'm tryin' and I'll try
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin' and I'll try
I'm tryin' and I'll try
Imagine if you were Herr Barockter
Alias and nobleman
Son of son of sky, and of scion
Part of his rich inheritance
Parceled and generous divorce
Sentence forthwith, being
Certain blocks of land
And living quarters deemed
By all gentlemen
And wives thereof
To be grossly humane
And frankly, quite un-dirty
Herr Barockter
In his enviable good taste
Tries quick escape gambit
Via local periodicals
But no takers, land an enviable station
In the conduit between two selves
A veritable no-man's land
Array of the flophouse, cardboard materials
And carbon-monoxide wallpaper
All his brig-deck Torino boys ask
Is irrelevant
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin' and I'll try
I'm tryin' and I'll try
Unable to bear the scandal, Ray, philanthropist
Rents low-down scab house in conduit
Herr Barockter offers said land for a song
But no one wants to sing
In an attempt to retain social privileges
Yet mask it as goodwill,
He says to the conduit members:
"Take this rotten old tree and make it bear fruit"
Cheers erupted throughout the thin settlement
An Italian male was heard to say
"Between here and there
Is better than either here or there!"
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin'
I'm tryin' and I'll try
I'm tryin' and I'll try
I'm tryin' and I'll try
Lyrics submitted by summerbabe, edited by cutlunch
Conduit for Sale! Lyrics as written by Stephen Joseph Malkmus Scott Kannberg
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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maybe its just me, but I think that this song would fit in nicely on White Light/ White Heat