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.
Hear the whistle blowin' so long
Tellin' me I gotta move along
Coast to coast gonna steal highway
Railroad boy up in the guiding daybreak
Get no sleep in a boxcar
Get no piece of line
They catch you jumpin' a freight train
They give you such a hard time
Movin' fast as my time runs out
Coal is something I can live without
Railroad fever got me a route
Like tumbleweed I ain't got no roots
You know no peace in a boxcar
Just can't sleep on a line
They catch you jumpin' a freight train
They give you such a hard time
East coast towns they are
Dark and cold
West coast ladies
They get right to my soul
But you know
Can't stand long
Bet all railroader's
Are singin' my song
Tellin' me I gotta move along
Coast to coast gonna steal highway
Railroad boy up in the guiding daybreak
Get no sleep in a boxcar
Get no piece of line
They catch you jumpin' a freight train
They give you such a hard time
Movin' fast as my time runs out
Coal is something I can live without
Railroad fever got me a route
Like tumbleweed I ain't got no roots
You know no peace in a boxcar
Just can't sleep on a line
They catch you jumpin' a freight train
They give you such a hard time
East coast towns they are
Dark and cold
West coast ladies
They get right to my soul
But you know
Can't stand long
Bet all railroader's
Are singin' my song
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Railroad Boy Lyrics as written by Darrell Sweet Dan Mccafferty (non Mountain Title
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
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