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.
Stray cats with fish heads, feeding their litters
Feral kids fight over rats, tailed from gutters
Bookie mouth brokers, rotten fruit sellers
Pickpockets, ghost through the crowd
He climbs onto boxes by market stall traders
Toothless and gray haired, thousand yard stare
He had a vision which broke the receiver
Receiving transmission, surface to air
Either way, I'm in awe of you
Either way, we'll survive
Conjuring devils, angels and demons
Only the children see shape to his tone
Laughing and crying, his song fell upon us
We buried his treasure along with his bones
Arms held aloft, away to the sky
Innocent witness, he testified
Drained of his purpose, he falls off the quayside
Absorbed by the ocean, rolled by the tide
Either way, I'm in awe of you
Either way, we'll survive
Either way, I'm in awe of you
Either way, we'll survive, we'll survive
Under the power lines which crackle and sparkle
Under the freeway, now, mostly rubble
The hungry still gather to fill up with stories
Of monsters and heroes and men
Under the stars, which prick us and call us
Connect us to hope that perfection's within
Is here on the ground, we're reckless and hopeless
Damned by the slip of a pen
Rambling poets, manic with vision
We are the drivers, yet we feel driven
Moths in the moonlight, fooled by a flashlight
Caught in a jam jar, gasping for air
Rambling poets, manic with vision
We are the drivers, yet we feel driven
Moths in the moonlight, fooled by a flashlight
Caught in a jam jar, gasping for air
Rambling poets, manic with vision
We are the drivers, yet we feel driven
Moths in the moonlight, fooled by a flashlight
Caught in a jam jar, gasping for air
Rambling poets, manic with vision
We are the drivers, yet we feel driven
Moths in the moonlight, fooled by a flashlight
Caught in a jam jar, gasping for air
Either way, I'm in awe of you
Either way, we'll survive, we'll survive
Feral kids fight over rats, tailed from gutters
Bookie mouth brokers, rotten fruit sellers
Pickpockets, ghost through the crowd
He climbs onto boxes by market stall traders
Toothless and gray haired, thousand yard stare
He had a vision which broke the receiver
Receiving transmission, surface to air
Either way, I'm in awe of you
Either way, we'll survive
Conjuring devils, angels and demons
Only the children see shape to his tone
Laughing and crying, his song fell upon us
We buried his treasure along with his bones
Arms held aloft, away to the sky
Innocent witness, he testified
Drained of his purpose, he falls off the quayside
Absorbed by the ocean, rolled by the tide
Either way, I'm in awe of you
Either way, we'll survive
Either way, I'm in awe of you
Either way, we'll survive, we'll survive
Under the power lines which crackle and sparkle
Under the freeway, now, mostly rubble
The hungry still gather to fill up with stories
Of monsters and heroes and men
Under the stars, which prick us and call us
Connect us to hope that perfection's within
Is here on the ground, we're reckless and hopeless
Damned by the slip of a pen
Rambling poets, manic with vision
We are the drivers, yet we feel driven
Moths in the moonlight, fooled by a flashlight
Caught in a jam jar, gasping for air
Rambling poets, manic with vision
We are the drivers, yet we feel driven
Moths in the moonlight, fooled by a flashlight
Caught in a jam jar, gasping for air
Rambling poets, manic with vision
We are the drivers, yet we feel driven
Moths in the moonlight, fooled by a flashlight
Caught in a jam jar, gasping for air
Rambling poets, manic with vision
We are the drivers, yet we feel driven
Moths in the moonlight, fooled by a flashlight
Caught in a jam jar, gasping for air
Either way, I'm in awe of you
Either way, we'll survive, we'll survive
Lyrics submitted by MaskOfSanity
Of Monsters & Heroes & Men Lyrics as written by Lawrence Gott James Patrick Glennie
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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