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.
The train that I got onto up and left that town
Threw it up as it went down
Strange enough it left me rude and turned around
Watched as they all took their vows
Fools were drawing, trying to save that day
I don't doubt that anyway
Phase it out until the older ones return
Have a seat and watch it burn
Trace around the corner, this is what I've learned
Always waited for my turn
Fools were drawing, trying to save that day
I don't doubt that anyway
Fools were drawing, trying to save that day
I don't doubt that anyway
Threw it up as it went down
Strange enough it left me rude and turned around
Watched as they all took their vows
Fools were drawing, trying to save that day
I don't doubt that anyway
Phase it out until the older ones return
Have a seat and watch it burn
Trace around the corner, this is what I've learned
Always waited for my turn
Fools were drawing, trying to save that day
I don't doubt that anyway
Fools were drawing, trying to save that day
I don't doubt that anyway
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Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
This song makes me think of someone who love another person, but they are involved with another person. And the effects of sitting on the outside looking in on a relationship.
Whenever I hear this song I imagine a bride or groom sitting at a wedding where their lover did not show up. I just imagine the chaos of people around them worrying about different things and all they can think about is the person they love. It makes sense to me anyway.
I think this song is about the effects of heroin, and how people really try to help their friends check into rehab.
Dave wrote this song as a tribute to his favourite Beatle, George Harrison.
The title of the song is a tribute to George Harrison (because Dave thought the guitar solo sounded like a Harrison solo), but the song is not about George Harrison.
"always waited for my turn"
could be about dave wanting to do his own music
maybe about when they switched how concert tickets were sold. instead of first come first serve, it went to some lottery bs?? The train he got on is a metaphor,like that ship sailed and he was on it. as he turned his back on the policy he was jaded. go back to old ways, watch it, it will. always waited his turn, is more fair.