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.
Since you've gone I spend each lonely night,
Dealing out the cards from left to right,
And the King of Hearts is there to remind me
That I'm all alone playing solitaire.
Love was just another game for two,
I see now that's all it meant to you,
And my heart got lost somewhere in the shuffle,
So I'm all alone playing solitaire
In each romance there's an element of chance,
A gamble to win or to lose,
You play to win, then you find you're playing in a game with no rules,
Just made for fools.
Now, the Joker has a laugh on me,
'Cause I played my hand so carelessly,
And until you wanna share that old feeling,
I'll be dealing time away with solitaire.
And until you want to share that old feeling,
I'll be dealing time away, dealing time away with solitaire.
Dealing out the cards from left to right,
And the King of Hearts is there to remind me
That I'm all alone playing solitaire.
Love was just another game for two,
I see now that's all it meant to you,
And my heart got lost somewhere in the shuffle,
So I'm all alone playing solitaire
In each romance there's an element of chance,
A gamble to win or to lose,
You play to win, then you find you're playing in a game with no rules,
Just made for fools.
Now, the Joker has a laugh on me,
'Cause I played my hand so carelessly,
And until you wanna share that old feeling,
I'll be dealing time away with solitaire.
And until you want to share that old feeling,
I'll be dealing time away, dealing time away with solitaire.
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