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.
You were wrong to resist me,
I was wrong to forgive.
Now I loathe my own weakness,
But you praise me for this.
There's a place in your future,
Where the wound will be healed,
And the children you injured,
Will rise up, purified, then kill your name...
You're afraid of the mirror,
So you crawl on the floor,
Where you count your perversions,
Then you rise up, filthy, with remorse...
I was wrong to forgive.
Now I loathe my own weakness,
But you praise me for this.
There's a place in your future,
Where the wound will be healed,
And the children you injured,
Will rise up, purified, then kill your name...
You're afraid of the mirror,
So you crawl on the floor,
Where you count your perversions,
Then you rise up, filthy, with remorse...
Lyrics submitted by expletivedeleted
Empathy Lyrics as written by A Kizys Svitek
Lyrics © Songtrust Ave
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Read Gira's story "Empathy". It's about incest.