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.
There is lambswool under my naked feet
The wool is soft and warm
Gives off some kind of heat
A salamander scurries into flame to be destroyed
Imaginary creatures are trapped in birth on celluloid
The fleas cling to the golden fleece
Hoping they'll find peace
Each thought and gesture are caught in celluloid
There's no hiding in memory
There's no room to avoid
The crawlers cover the floor in the red ochre corridor
For my second sight of people, they've more lifeblood than before
They're moving in time to a heavy wooden door
Where the needle's eye is winking, closing on the poor
The carpet crawlers heed their callers
"We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out"
There's only one direction in the faces that I see
It's upward to the ceiling, where the chamber's said to be
Like the forest fight for sunlight, that takes root in every tree
They are pulled up by the magnet, believing they're free
The carpet crawlers heed their callers
"We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out"
Mild-mannered supermen are held in kryptonite
And the wise and foolish virgins giggle with their bodies glowing bright
Through the door a harvest feast is lit by candlelight
It's the bottom of a staircase that spirals out of sight
The carpet crawlers heed their callers
"We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out"
The porcelain mannequin with shattered skin fears attack
And the eager pack lift up their pitchers, they carry all they lack
The liquid has congealed, which has seeped out through the crack
And the tickler takes his stickleback
The carpet crawlers heed their callers
"We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out"
"We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out"
"We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out"
"We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out"
The carpet crawlers heed their callers
"We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out"
The wool is soft and warm
Gives off some kind of heat
A salamander scurries into flame to be destroyed
Imaginary creatures are trapped in birth on celluloid
The fleas cling to the golden fleece
Hoping they'll find peace
Each thought and gesture are caught in celluloid
There's no hiding in memory
There's no room to avoid
The crawlers cover the floor in the red ochre corridor
For my second sight of people, they've more lifeblood than before
They're moving in time to a heavy wooden door
Where the needle's eye is winking, closing on the poor
The carpet crawlers heed their callers
"We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out"
There's only one direction in the faces that I see
It's upward to the ceiling, where the chamber's said to be
Like the forest fight for sunlight, that takes root in every tree
They are pulled up by the magnet, believing they're free
The carpet crawlers heed their callers
"We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out"
Mild-mannered supermen are held in kryptonite
And the wise and foolish virgins giggle with their bodies glowing bright
Through the door a harvest feast is lit by candlelight
It's the bottom of a staircase that spirals out of sight
The carpet crawlers heed their callers
"We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out"
The porcelain mannequin with shattered skin fears attack
And the eager pack lift up their pitchers, they carry all they lack
The liquid has congealed, which has seeped out through the crack
And the tickler takes his stickleback
The carpet crawlers heed their callers
"We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out"
"We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out"
"We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out"
"We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out"
The carpet crawlers heed their callers
"We've gotta get in to get out
We've gotta get in to get out"
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by Crawlers, yjloiselle
The Carpet Crawlers Lyrics as written by Peter Brian Gabriel Steven Richard Hackett
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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When I Google "red ochre corridor", I get some hits on the Taj Mahal. Could there be a connection? 🤔