Teenage Jesus and the Jerks were an influential post-punk group from New Yo… Read Full Bio ↴Teenage Jesus and the Jerks were an influential post-punk group from New York City, New York, United States, who formed part of the city's No Wave movement. Founded by one-time CBGBs waitress Lydia Lunch and saxophonist James Chance, the group was active from 1976 to 1979, releasing only a handful of singles.

Chance eventually left to form The Contortions and pursue his own equally abrasive musical direction. Both groups were featured on the seminal "No New York" LP, a showcase of the early No Wave scene compiled and produced by Brian Eno.

Infamous for playing ten-minute sets filled with thirty-second songs, they sought to take music beyond what Lunch saw as the traditionalism of punk rock. The group left behind little more than a dozen complete recorded songs with most of the surviving titles collected on the 18-minute career retrospective CD titled "Everything". However other studio versions of several songs exist alongside a few live recordings.

Lunch and Chance both went on to become cult figures of the New York underground music scene and the group has been cited as a significant influence on subsequent post-punk groups such as Sonic Youth and The Istics.

The band reunited in 2008 for a series of performances, with Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore. The band continued to perform without Moore throughout 2009, including dates in Canada.

Crown of Thorns
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Die a thousand times
A crown of thorns
Thrown off the shelf
My eyes are burnt
My cries in heat
I die for you
You try to hide
I'm hiding

Die a thousand times

For every lie you hide inside

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "Crown of Thorns" by Teenage Jesus and the Jerks depict the emotional turmoil of a person who is suffering in a one-sided relationship. The repeated line "Die a thousand times" suggests that the singer has been hurt multiple times and is constantly being disregarded by their partner. The metaphor of a "crown of thorns" represents the pain and sacrifice the singer has endured for their partner. The line "Thrown off the shelf" could be interpreted as the singer feeling discarded or unwanted by their partner.

The second verse further illustrates the singer's heartache, as their eyes are "burnt" from crying and they "die for" their partner, who tries to hide from them. The repetition of "I'm hiding" could suggest that the singer is emotionally withdrawing from the relationship while also trying to hide their true feelings. The final line of the chorus, "For every lie you hide inside", implies that the partner is being dishonest with themselves and with the singer. Overall, the lyrics convey a sense of desperation and pain that stems from unrequited love and emotional neglect.

Line by Line Meaning

Die a thousand times
I am in great emotional pain and suffering, so much so that it feels like I am experiencing death repeatedly, over and over again.

A crown of thorns
My emotional wounds are so severe that they manifest physically, like a crown of thorns pressed into my head in a symbol of agony and suffering.

Thrown off the shelf
My feelings have been discarded like an unwanted object, and I am left feeling worthless and disregarded.

My eyes are burnt
I have been exposed to so much hurt and pain that it has left me feeling raw and vulnerable, like my eyes have been scorched and left open to the harshness of the world.

My cries in heat
The intense emotion boiling inside of me is bursting out in anguished cries, like a furnace reaching its maximum temperature.

I die for you
My love and devotion for you is so deep and profound that it feels like I would gladly sacrifice my life for you, even if you don't fully understand or appreciate it.

You try to hide
You are attempting to conceal your true thoughts and feelings, but I can still sense that something is wrong and it is causing me great distress.

I'm hiding
I am retreating into myself and becoming withdrawn and isolated, afraid of being hurt again and unwilling to open up to anyone else.

Die a thousand times
My pain and suffering are so great that it feels like I am dying repeatedly, over and over again, like a never-ending cycle of torment.

For every lie you hide inside
I am aware that you are keeping secrets and pretending that everything is okay, and it is causing me immense pain knowing that I cannot trust you completely.

Contributed by Keira C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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