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.
Why
Why do you go wasting your time on me
You're so beautiful now
There's so much that's left for you now
Oh yeah, babe
And why
Why do you go flashing those eyes at me
You know that I'm eager to please
I've always been eager to please
Oh yeah, babe
But I, I've got a lot to say
And I'm scared that you're gonna slip away
And you, you've got this wide-eyed gaze
And a smile that you'll carry through your days
Oh why
Oh why
It's the easiest way
To know you're alive
And the beauty you heard
I see her talking with her hands
Well I don't think she knows
How she changed all my plans
Why
Why do you go wasting your youth on me
You're so beautiful now
There's so much time left for you now
Oh yeah, babe
Why
We look at the faces on your bedroom wall
Nobody's perfect at all
Well, sometimes it makes you feel small
Oh yeah, babe
Well I, I've got a lot to say
And I'm scared that you're gonna slip away
And you, you've got this wide-eyed gaze
And a smile that you'll carry through your days
Oh why
Oh why
It's the easiest way
To know you're alive
And the beauty you heard
I see her talking with her hands
Well I don't think she knows
How she changed all my plans
The things that I thought would last
Well they're fading, they're fading
The feelings I used to have
They're changing, they're changing
The things that I thought would last
Well they're fading, they're fading
The feelings I used to have
They're changing, they're changing, they're changing now
They're changing, they're changing now
They're changing, they're changing now
Why do you go wasting your time on me
You're so beautiful now
There's so much that's left for you now
Oh yeah, babe
And why
Why do you go flashing those eyes at me
You know that I'm eager to please
I've always been eager to please
Oh yeah, babe
But I, I've got a lot to say
And I'm scared that you're gonna slip away
And you, you've got this wide-eyed gaze
And a smile that you'll carry through your days
Oh why
Oh why
It's the easiest way
To know you're alive
And the beauty you heard
I see her talking with her hands
Well I don't think she knows
How she changed all my plans
Why
Why do you go wasting your youth on me
You're so beautiful now
There's so much time left for you now
Oh yeah, babe
Why
We look at the faces on your bedroom wall
Nobody's perfect at all
Well, sometimes it makes you feel small
Oh yeah, babe
Well I, I've got a lot to say
And I'm scared that you're gonna slip away
And you, you've got this wide-eyed gaze
And a smile that you'll carry through your days
Oh why
Oh why
It's the easiest way
To know you're alive
And the beauty you heard
I see her talking with her hands
Well I don't think she knows
How she changed all my plans
The things that I thought would last
Well they're fading, they're fading
The feelings I used to have
They're changing, they're changing
The things that I thought would last
Well they're fading, they're fading
The feelings I used to have
They're changing, they're changing, they're changing now
They're changing, they're changing now
They're changing, they're changing now
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Its about a guy who is in love with a girl he feels is out of his league. He feels like he doesn't deserve her so he tries whatever to please her so she stays. He feels like he is holding her back as she is so beautiful and has so much potential. He feels she doesn't really care about him as she has posters of guys she'd rather be with in her room. This makes him feel even worse, hitting his confidence as he doesn't see himself anything like those guys. He decides to change his plans as he finally realizes that she didn't care when he changed his life plans for her. He finally decides he has to go as it will be better for her, and him.
I feel like this song is about fathers love and how he had been blessed with an at first unwanted child... As time goes on on the other hand, he realises that this child is a gift. Neither can he believe how she holds up with this rather hopeless guy that is her father xP.
I see how the song can be interpreted as him liking a girl and I feel like that probably is what it is about since Vance has that as a reoccuring theme in his spngs, but to me it feels like it can be interpret into such a beautiful song about a relationship between a father and his child.
also I think that the phrases "I see her talking with her hands", "we look at the faces on your bedroom wall", "why, why do you waste your youth on me" and "well I don't think she knows how she changed all my plans" show the innocent ignorance/unknowingness of a child.
@Moyabit I have to agree a lot of the song seems to be him describing a child and his changing expectations towards his own life "The things that I thought would last<br /> Well they’re fading, they’re fading The feelings I used to have They’re changing"<br /> <br /> Plus you get the sense it's a one way conversation, it's like he's not expecting her to respond.