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.
Baby, your Dada loves you,
And I'm always gonna be here for you, no matter what happened.
You're all I got in this world,
I'd never give you up for nothin'.
Nobody in this world is ever gonna keep you from me. I love you.
C'mon, hey-hey, we goin to the beach.
Grab a couple of toys and let Dada strap you in the car seat.
Where's Mama? She's takin a little nap in the trunk.
Oh that smell- Dada musta runned over a skunk.
Now I know what you're thinkin'- it's kind of late to go swimmin',
But you know your Mama, she's one of those type of women,
That do crazy things, and if she don't get her way, she'll throw a fit.
Don't play with Dada's toy knife, honey, let go of it,
And don't look so upset, why you actin' bashful?
Don't you want to help Dada build a sand castle?
And Mama said she wants to show how far she can float.
Don't worry about that little boo-boo on her throat,
It's just a little scratch- it don't hurt,
Her was eatin' dinner while you were sweepin'
Spilled ketchup on her shirt.
Mama's messy isn't she? We'll let her wash off in the water,
Me and you can play by ourselves, can't we?
Justthe two of us. Justthe two of us
Just you and I.
Justthe two of us.
See honey, there's a place called heaven and a place called hell,
There's a place called prison and a place called jail.
An Dada's probably on his way to all of them except one.
Cause mama's got a new husband and a stepson.
And you don't want a brother do ya?
Maybe when you're old enough to understand a little better,
I'll explain it to ya.
But, for now, we'll just say Mama was real, real bad.
She was bein mean to Dad and made him real, real mad.
But, I still feel sad that I put her on time-out.
Sit back in your chair honey, quit tryin' to climb out.
I told you it's okay, hey-hey, want to ba-ba?
Take a night-night? Nan-a-goo, goo-goo ga-ga?
Her make goo-goo ca-ca? Da-da change your dia-dee.
Clean the baby up so her can take a nighty-nighty.
Your dad'll wake her up as soon as we get to the water.
Ninety-seven Bonnie and Clyde, me and my daughter, me and my daughter.
Me and my daughter.
Justthe two of us. Justthe two of us
Just you and I.
Justthe two of us
Wake up sweepy head- we're here, before we pway,
We're gonna take Mama for a wittle walk along the pier.
Baby, don't cry honey, don't get the wrong idea.
Mama's too sweepy to hear you screamin in her ear.
That's why you can't get her to wake, but don't worry,
Dada made a nice bed for mommy at the bottom of the lake.
Here, you want to help Dada tie a rope around this rock?
We'll tie it to her footsie then we'll roll her off the dock.
Ready now, here we go, on the count of free
Onetwofreewheee
There goes Mama, spwashin in the water;
No more fightin wit Dad, no more restraining order.
No more step-Dada, no more brother.
Blow her kisses 'bye-bye,' tell Mommy you love her.
Now we'll go play in the sand, build a castle and junk.
But first, just help Dad with two more things out the trunk.
Just the two of us.
And I'm always gonna be here for you, no matter what happened.
You're all I got in this world,
I'd never give you up for nothin'.
Nobody in this world is ever gonna keep you from me. I love you.
C'mon, hey-hey, we goin to the beach.
Grab a couple of toys and let Dada strap you in the car seat.
Where's Mama? She's takin a little nap in the trunk.
Oh that smell- Dada musta runned over a skunk.
Now I know what you're thinkin'- it's kind of late to go swimmin',
But you know your Mama, she's one of those type of women,
That do crazy things, and if she don't get her way, she'll throw a fit.
Don't play with Dada's toy knife, honey, let go of it,
And don't look so upset, why you actin' bashful?
Don't you want to help Dada build a sand castle?
And Mama said she wants to show how far she can float.
Don't worry about that little boo-boo on her throat,
It's just a little scratch- it don't hurt,
Her was eatin' dinner while you were sweepin'
Spilled ketchup on her shirt.
Mama's messy isn't she? We'll let her wash off in the water,
Me and you can play by ourselves, can't we?
Justthe two of us. Justthe two of us
Just you and I.
Justthe two of us.
See honey, there's a place called heaven and a place called hell,
There's a place called prison and a place called jail.
An Dada's probably on his way to all of them except one.
Cause mama's got a new husband and a stepson.
And you don't want a brother do ya?
Maybe when you're old enough to understand a little better,
I'll explain it to ya.
But, for now, we'll just say Mama was real, real bad.
She was bein mean to Dad and made him real, real mad.
But, I still feel sad that I put her on time-out.
Sit back in your chair honey, quit tryin' to climb out.
I told you it's okay, hey-hey, want to ba-ba?
Take a night-night? Nan-a-goo, goo-goo ga-ga?
Her make goo-goo ca-ca? Da-da change your dia-dee.
Clean the baby up so her can take a nighty-nighty.
Your dad'll wake her up as soon as we get to the water.
Ninety-seven Bonnie and Clyde, me and my daughter, me and my daughter.
Me and my daughter.
Justthe two of us. Justthe two of us
Just you and I.
Justthe two of us
Wake up sweepy head- we're here, before we pway,
We're gonna take Mama for a wittle walk along the pier.
Baby, don't cry honey, don't get the wrong idea.
Mama's too sweepy to hear you screamin in her ear.
That's why you can't get her to wake, but don't worry,
Dada made a nice bed for mommy at the bottom of the lake.
Here, you want to help Dada tie a rope around this rock?
We'll tie it to her footsie then we'll roll her off the dock.
Ready now, here we go, on the count of free
Onetwofreewheee
There goes Mama, spwashin in the water;
No more fightin wit Dad, no more restraining order.
No more step-Dada, no more brother.
Blow her kisses 'bye-bye,' tell Mommy you love her.
Now we'll go play in the sand, build a castle and junk.
But first, just help Dad with two more things out the trunk.
Just the two of us.
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I just have to relate an experience - you all think this song is creepy when you hear it come up on your cd, but picture this: I was recently on an airplane, and I put on my ipod to relax and snooze. I woke up, startled and freaked out by the creepish whispering in my ears, and was totally shocked at being woken by this song. Super duper creepy cubed...
Well, I finally brought myself to listen to Eminem's version of this song, and all I can say is... wow. His voice is so disconnected from what's happening, it's like he really is just singing about typical rap things. He could just as easily be singing about money and cars and wouldn't have to change his tone at all. Tori's in comparison is ... I don't know, it's just so different. She gave the mother a voice, but I think what she did even more is help the listener understand the seriousness and insanity of the story being told. Before I heard the Eminem version, I would listen to Tori's, and think that, yes, that is exactly how a man, especially, a man who would kill his wife, would sound. Not the voice and obviously not the pitch, but the intonation, just the very WAY Tori speaks in that song. Eminem does sound disconnected, but not in the denying way a man who killed his child's mother would. He just sounds like "I'm rapping. It means nothing." Now that I have heard him do this song, I can really see just how Tori manipulated it, and she did it perfectly. She really revealed this song for what it was, horrible and inappropriate, not to be taken lightly because it's JUST a song.
em's version is sick. juxtaposing how much he loves his daughter to how much he hates his baby's mama. idk where you're coming from saying he is disconnected and whatnot. the tone is innocent for a reason.<br /> <br /> it's a narrative, and he's talking to his little girl. of course he's not mirroring his words with his tone! he'd scare hay-hay right into the water along with her mom, stepdad and stepbrother! <br /> <br />
I think she just wanted to make people realize the horrible things eminem said in this song... She decided to give the dead mother a voice and, well, the result is bone-chilling.
eminem is a master of manipulating his own persona...he puts on a show using people from his life as the cast...so the only non-fictional part of this song is that he does have a daughter, and he did have a wife
i have to skip over this song on the album. it gives me the creepy chills everytime.
stardustgammaray;
I find your attempt at playing the internet tough-guy hilarious.
(:
well said marie-p. i totally agree.
and i don't care for eminem much either...
if you look at the comments posted on eminem's version of this song...well lets just say it gives you the opportunity to compare eminem and tori fans. I agree, I always have to skip it on my cd player also.
I always skip me and a gun
Eminem is kinda disturbed and i think Tori did a good job at showing us how messed up he is by giving the dead mother a voice, like marie-p said (which was said well :) , that what i was trying to say, but she already did) yeah...
ok i understand everyones input on this song. i am a huge fan of tori and i do like eminem. and as for the song its very erie no matter who sings it. i think eminem was just venting his anger and tori was just tring to put it into prospective.