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 remember how we met
But your name I forget
Like the door that I have kept unopened
I remember it was wet
And the swelt and the sweat
And the shelter of the bed we cloaked in
You were stroking me like a pet
But you didn't own me yet
And the tape in the cassette deck was choking
Spat out a broken hallelujah
But I've seen the way the earth
Throws its aces with a curve
You were waiting for the words
To come to yer.
Just to say that you prefer to be lonely
To be cursed
And to do the very worst you can do.
Yeah I remember you like a verse
That I didn't want to learn
I just looked into your eyes
And I knew yer.
Now the thought of you is burnt
On my body from the first time you did rewind that line
From Hallelujah.
The original Leonard Cohen version.
Well I wish that I never met you that day
You said I have a room, I have music to play
I have a room let me show you the way
I wish that I'd never come
But now that I have, I would do it again
And I would forget that I'd piss on a grave
I would forget that I'd piss on a grave
And the words as they came to my tongue were
hallelujah. Hallelujah!
And the sky was so much bluer
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
And the world was so much newer.
You said I have a room
At the top of the stairs
I have a room with a view
I know we all have a cross that we bear
And I'd like to show it to you.
And you left me in the light
And you met me in the light
And we only had a night between the two.
You were waiting for the worst
You were listening for a curse
But the only thing I heard was hallelujah.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
And the sky was so much bluer
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
And the world was so much newer.
you said I have a room
At the top of the stairs.
I have a room with a view.
I know we all have a cross that we bear
And I'd like to give it to you.
And I won't forget how the sky was set
I said I have a place to go back to.
La La La I will have you yet
I will carry you there if I have to.
No I won't forget no I won't.
No I won't forget no I won't
No I won't forget no I won't
No I won't forget no.
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. W-o-o-o-ah.
First love.
But your name I forget
Like the door that I have kept unopened
I remember it was wet
And the swelt and the sweat
And the shelter of the bed we cloaked in
You were stroking me like a pet
But you didn't own me yet
And the tape in the cassette deck was choking
Spat out a broken hallelujah
But I've seen the way the earth
Throws its aces with a curve
You were waiting for the words
To come to yer.
Just to say that you prefer to be lonely
To be cursed
And to do the very worst you can do.
Yeah I remember you like a verse
That I didn't want to learn
I just looked into your eyes
And I knew yer.
Now the thought of you is burnt
On my body from the first time you did rewind that line
From Hallelujah.
The original Leonard Cohen version.
Well I wish that I never met you that day
You said I have a room, I have music to play
I have a room let me show you the way
I wish that I'd never come
But now that I have, I would do it again
And I would forget that I'd piss on a grave
I would forget that I'd piss on a grave
And the words as they came to my tongue were
hallelujah. Hallelujah!
And the sky was so much bluer
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
And the world was so much newer.
You said I have a room
At the top of the stairs
I have a room with a view
I know we all have a cross that we bear
And I'd like to show it to you.
And you left me in the light
And you met me in the light
And we only had a night between the two.
You were waiting for the worst
You were listening for a curse
But the only thing I heard was hallelujah.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
And the sky was so much bluer
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
And the world was so much newer.
you said I have a room
At the top of the stairs.
I have a room with a view.
I know we all have a cross that we bear
And I'd like to give it to you.
And I won't forget how the sky was set
I said I have a place to go back to.
La La La I will have you yet
I will carry you there if I have to.
No I won't forget no I won't.
No I won't forget no I won't
No I won't forget no I won't
No I won't forget no.
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. W-o-o-o-ah.
First love.
Lyrics submitted by Jarethshair
First Love Lyrics as written by Emma Moss
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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For me this song is about a one night stand. (hence why she can't remember his name)
And you left me in the light and you met me in the light and we only had a night between the two.
They meet during the day and he leaves her the morning after. She doesn't remember everything about it, but recalls the bad weather outside and their sweaty bodies huddled under the duvet. There is an awkwardness to the situation as they listen to the music and he struggles to find the right words to say 'You were waiting for the words to come to yer' However she is not interested in his 'words' 'Yeah I remember you like a verse that I didn�t want to learn' She doesn't want to listen to what he is saying or have a close emotional connection to him. She is looking for physical attraction, the seductive look in his eyes is enough for her to fall under his spell. 'I just looked into your eyes and I knew yer.'
The beauty of Cohen's music playing as they have sex is a trigger of the memory and it means that she is never able to truly forget him. He becomes part of her identity. 'Now the thought of you is burnt on my body from the first time you did rewind that line from Hallelujah'
She wishes that she could forget him, but at the same time, knows that she would do exactly the same over. Her orgasm makes her reassess the beauty of the world. the words as they came to my tongue were hallelujah. Hallelujah! And the sky was so much bluer Hallelujah! Hallelujah! And the world was so much newer.
The references to 'cursing' and 'doing the worst' might be to do with his sexual preferences, as we see later on that while he is waiting to be cursed (and whatever 'the worst' entails...) she is completely consumed by the pleasure she is feeling and the music and doesn't take in anything he is saying to her.
You were waiting for the worst You were listening for a curse but the only thing I heard was hallelujah
I think the title 'first love' is supposed to be ironic, due to the distinct lack of 'loving' relations and her desire to be completely emotionally distant from him. The entire episode is very physical, she doesn't listen to him at all. She wants to escape, and loose herself in a guilty pleasure like pissing on a grave. What do you all think?
first time? so many of emmy's songs about sex, it seems.
another wonderful emmy the great song, she is absolutely fantasticcc
i saw in an interview that this song was based on a book, i forgot the title of the book (sorry), but i roughly remember that it was about a man who lures a woman into a room, seduces her and then just leaves her.
and of course it's also about leonard's song.
i love it. it's really emmy's lyrics that just get to you
this is the interview
youtube.com/watch
:)
I heard this song on E4 Music this morning and had to find it! I love this song it's so good :)
I notice that the introductory tune is a bit like "I Remember" by Damien Rice, and of course the song is about Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Like most of her songs it is all full of references in addition to the story it has to tell.
I notice that the introductory tune is a bit like "I Remember" by Damien Rice, and of course the song is about Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Like most of her songs it is all full of references in addition to the story it has to tell.
Snippets of her lyrics can sound moronic and cutesy to me, but with Emmy you always have to pay attention to the line before and the line after, and realize some of those lyrics are pure poetry.
"And you left me in the light and you met me in the light and we only had a night between the two."
I think somehow the line should read 'I wish that I'd never cum'.
this has been one of my all-time favourite song for years. still can't get over how wonderful it is