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.
I want to go home
Take off this uniform and leave the show
And I'm waiting in this cell because I have to know
Have I been guilty all this time?
Take off this uniform and leave the show
And I'm waiting in this cell because I have to know
Have I been guilty all this time?
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
Stop Lyrics as written by Roger Waters
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Downtown Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The way that this song goes with "Waiting for the Worms" makes me think that it is about a Nazi soldier or official waiting in his cell to face "The Trial". "I wanna go home, take off this uniform and leave the show" makes me think of a former Nazi awaiting trial and realizing how wrong he and his compatriots were and wanting everything to be over with. "I'm waiting in this cell because I have to know, have I been guilty all this time?" This person is finally starting to realize how bad fascism is (when the Holocaust was going on, many Germans blindly followed orders, not realizing they were wrong). One might think that in the upcoming Trial, he would be tried by the Allies for war crimes, but in that song, the defendant is accused of "showing feeling... of an almost human nature". So could "Stop" be the soldier defecting from the Nazis, and "The Trial" be about the soldier being tried in a Nazi court?
In the album, this is the turning point, following Pinks overwhelming feelings of hate and isolation in "Waiting for the worms" and "In the flesh" this is his realization of the wall of emotion he has built up and wants to destroy.
i believe pink has turned to becoming the nazis which killed his father, sort of siding with those who harmed him. as "waiting for hte worms" ends in a great crechendo, he seems to realized he cannot continue being a hateful creature as he is becoming, and is ready to face the trial to be sentenced to reveal his true form, stripping away his facade.
i love this song becasue in such a short and powerful packet, he suddenly turns around his mindset, and prepares to tear down his meantal and emotional wall
I think that Pink is admitting to himself that he created the wall which is blocking his mind from reality.
Honestly, I might have to say that this was the best thirty seconds of my life. And Echoes would be the best 23:32 of my life, and Shine On You Crazy Diamond the best 13:32 of my life, and so on.
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (I-IV), that is. The whole set would be the best 26+ minutes of my life.
Best song on the Wall, hands down (though Mother comes close). Right now, it's at my #8 PF song of all time.
It's essentially a prelude to the Trial, but then again, it's so much more, and carries tons of hidden meaning. If you listen to The Wall a few times, and watch the movie at least once, you should be able to figure it out.
finally a track on Amazon.com where you can listen to the whole thing!
It rips out your heart in 30 seconds
I agree with all the comments about nazism, but it is part of this story and not specifically about soldiers I think. I also think a lot of this part of the wall is understood if you know of Roger Waters' hatred for the punk generation and how he related it to nazism and the father dying in the war is autobiographical of his own life. I think he felt anger towards them and began to believe that his father fought and died for what seemed like a wholly unpatriotic generation. Understandable, but of course, he was wrong, punk was all encompassing and a complete stark contrast to nazism. I do love the wall though. :)