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.
This is the winter of our youth
Oh but I'm not there yet
I've got nostalgia running through me
And I don't like it
Oh my, my, my, my
Now I can almost taste it, taste it
But I, just hope we didn't waste it away
I know the winter's getting colder
But why, just 'cause we're a little older do
I relive it, I relive it
Oh, I'm peddling backwards
Even if I'm peddling alone
Can't help it
I relive it, I relive it, oh
It's 4 AM here comes the fear
I'm not prepared yet
And when we pick over the past we glorify it
Oh my, my, my, my
I hope I wasn't wasted, wasted
And I, I hope I didn't drink it away
I know the winter's getting colder
But why, just 'cause we're a little older do
I relive it, I relive it
Oh, I'm peddling backwards
Even if I'm peddling alone
Can't help it
I relive it, I relive it, oh
I let myself bathe in the past for way, way, way too long
And now it seems that I've drunk too much to give you what you want
I know the winter's getting colder
But why, just 'cause we're a little older do
I relive it, I relive it
Oh, I'm peddling backwards
Even if I'm peddling alone
Can't help it
I relive it, I relive it, oh
Can't help it
Relive it, I relive it, oh
Can't help it
I relive it, I relive it, oh
I'm peddling backwards
Even if I'm peddling alone
Can't help it
I relive it, I relive it, oh
Oh but I'm not there yet
I've got nostalgia running through me
And I don't like it
Oh my, my, my, my
Now I can almost taste it, taste it
But I, just hope we didn't waste it away
I know the winter's getting colder
But why, just 'cause we're a little older do
I relive it, I relive it
Oh, I'm peddling backwards
Even if I'm peddling alone
Can't help it
I relive it, I relive it, oh
It's 4 AM here comes the fear
I'm not prepared yet
And when we pick over the past we glorify it
Oh my, my, my, my
I hope I wasn't wasted, wasted
And I, I hope I didn't drink it away
I know the winter's getting colder
But why, just 'cause we're a little older do
I relive it, I relive it
Oh, I'm peddling backwards
Even if I'm peddling alone
Can't help it
I relive it, I relive it, oh
I let myself bathe in the past for way, way, way too long
And now it seems that I've drunk too much to give you what you want
I know the winter's getting colder
But why, just 'cause we're a little older do
I relive it, I relive it
Oh, I'm peddling backwards
Even if I'm peddling alone
Can't help it
I relive it, I relive it, oh
Can't help it
Relive it, I relive it, oh
Can't help it
I relive it, I relive it, oh
I'm peddling backwards
Even if I'm peddling alone
Can't help it
I relive it, I relive it, oh
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
Winter of Our Youth Lyrics as written by Daniel Smith Mark Crew
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song is about not being over someone, and floods of memories and nostalgia just keep coming back to hurt you. "This is the winter of our youth, but I'm not there yet." I interpret this a few different ways. Winter could mean that the series of events that are causing him painful nostalgia took place in the winter and the season reminds him of that now. Winter is cold, and the opening line of the chorus is "I know the winter's getting colder, but why just cause we're a little older, do I relive it all?" The cold and its increase in strength could represent the cold between them, how they are growing more and more cold to one another as time goes on or the more they were together. It's not just a winter, it's a winter of youth. This happened when he was young, and now that he's older he's thinking about it again and trying to understand it. "Oh, I'm peddling backwards Even if I'm peddling alone, Can't help it, I relive it all" He's thinking back into his past, but he thinks he's the only one of this former pair that still thinks back on what they were and had and all the memories. "It's 4 AM here comes the fear, I'm not prepared yet, And when we pick over the past we glorify it" my favorite line of the song. It's 4 AM, he's nostalgic and as the song suggests, drinking, and he's afraid. He's afraid to think back on the good as well as the bad, he's afraid to miss it, and not being prepared...he'll never be prepared. You never fully move on from things like this. When we look back into our memories, we tend to be biased, think of it as being better or worse than it was, and in a drunken nostalgia trip of a youthful romance, you are likely to think only about the good parts, especially if you aren't over someone, or if you don't even have any bad parts. "I've let myself bathe in the past for way way way too long" meaning he thinks about this more than he thinks he should and he indulges these thoughts, he lets himself hold on to it. Overall, a great, raw, relatable song.