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.
Everything that we've tried
We'll keep waking up to that light
We'll see rising of a new tide
We are starting up a new life
When your head is hanging too low
When your heart is about to explode
You can make it anywhere, go
There's no fear when you get here
Give up that ghost
When your dreams just seem like they're dead
Like embalming deep in your head
When your job has gone to deep shit
If you've fallen off of that list
When you're clenching both of your fists
Like you aimed and then you just missed
Let the record show that you're fixed
Don't you give up now, just get up and resist
This time, I won't be complacent
The dreams I gave up and wasted
A new high, a new ride and I'm on fire
My hope shit ends here tonight
And after you had the time of your life
Flat-lined and lead towards the light
You'll despair the wreckage and find
No-one gave a fuck that you died
This time, I won't be complacent
The dreams I gave up and wasted
A new high, a new ride and I'm on fire
My hope, shit ends here tonight
It's my high, it's my mind
All made up, it's alright
If I fall on some nails
If I win or set sail
I won't fail
I won't fail
We'll keep waking up to that light
We'll see rising of a new tide
We are starting up a new life
When your head is hanging too low
When your heart is about to explode
You can make it anywhere, go
There's no fear when you get here
Give up that ghost
When your dreams just seem like they're dead
Like embalming deep in your head
When your job has gone to deep shit
If you've fallen off of that list
When you're clenching both of your fists
Like you aimed and then you just missed
Let the record show that you're fixed
Don't you give up now, just get up and resist
This time, I won't be complacent
The dreams I gave up and wasted
A new high, a new ride and I'm on fire
My hope shit ends here tonight
And after you had the time of your life
Flat-lined and lead towards the light
You'll despair the wreckage and find
No-one gave a fuck that you died
This time, I won't be complacent
The dreams I gave up and wasted
A new high, a new ride and I'm on fire
My hope, shit ends here tonight
It's my high, it's my mind
All made up, it's alright
If I fall on some nails
If I win or set sail
I won't fail
I won't fail
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This is the intro track on Blink-182's 2023 album "One More Time..." It is the sequel to Anthem (1999) and Anthem Pt. 2 (2001). The lyrics appear to be an older, wiser Tom DeLonge looking back on his youth, writing a letter to himself encouraging him not to be discouraged at the general insanity of life in your 20's, such as working at awful jobs or not having your hopes and dreams pan out. It's basically a general motivational anthem. Hence the title.
would love to know what "despair the wreckage" means???