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Post by Yuliya on Jul 10, 2010 23:25:20 GMT -5
I've been wanting to discuss this song, and I think this week's song battle has started off a discussion/thought process, so I thought I could bring it over here and people can share what they think about the song:
Near Life Experience
If I showed my hands shaking like a leaf, you might not understand, but I bet you'll believe There’s spiders inside, crawling around the cobwebs in my mind that I tried to drown out.
You said I look like a ghost, man I almost was. You said I need to let go, quit chasing that buzz, that picture in time, frozen like ice Cycles keep repeating, beating me down to size. Or maybe I'm blind, just throwing darts in the dark.
I didn't get what I want, I got what I need. Man, it hurts like hell down here on my knees. Is this where I end, or is this where we begin?
The night is my friend, I blend in with the best: The vampires, the crooks, the felons and the rest. Now we can pretend that we really care less, and act like we love what we really detest. Or maybe I'm blind, just throwing darts in the dark.
I didn't get what I want, I got what I need. Man it hurts like hell down here on my knees. Is this where I end, or is this where we begin?
Make this go away, I'm begging please There's little life left here for me to bleed. Is this where I end, or is this where we begin?
I'm looking up but I'm feeling down, Seems like cutting these corners, was cutting me down to size Am I losing control or losing my mind? I know for a fact I'm losing my last place to hide. Or maybe I'm blind, just throwing darts in the dark.
I didn't get what I want, I got what I need. Man it hurts like hell down here on my knees. Is this where I end, or is this where we begin?
My pulse is racing, I can't catch my breath. This near-life experience scared me to death. Is this where I end, or is this where we begin? Or is this where we begin?
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Lia chan
No Name Face
Stop the world from making sense...
Posts: 51
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Post by Lia chan on Jul 11, 2010 18:52:23 GMT -5
First- THANK YOU. The third line? Spiders? Every lyrics site says "This bat is inside" and it was confusing me, since there is no lyric insert in the CD, because I was sure it was spiders. You just made my life so much easier.
This song makes me really sad. I obsessed over it a couple of weeks ago, and it's just makes me sad. It may also be that I obsessed over it when I got together with my boyfriend, and the past two years I've sworn to myself I would not fall in love... "Is this where I end, or is this where we begin?" ... and part of that reason was because I hate how couples rely so much on each other and become so alike. It scares me, that dependence, and then when they break up, there's pain- and there's no me left because I've ended...
"You said I need to let go, quit chasing that buzz, that picture in time, frozen like ice..." For me, nostalgia's my worst enemy. It depresses me far too much. I'll be nostalgic when aforementioned boy and I break up.
"I didn't get what I want, I got what I need." Because I didn't want a relationship, and "All you need is love," and apparently everyone's supposed to have a need to love.
I'm 15, I know nothing about love. But yeah.
I love the lyrics to this song. The music itself, not so much, which is usually vice versa for me, but the lyrics are just really good...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2010 15:01:10 GMT -5
Lia: You're interpretation was really interesting to read. I would have never thought of it the way you presented it, but I think that it eerily fits! That's what's so cool, I think. I love this song. I think it's so creative and descriptive and tells a story that kind of has a lesson hidden in there. Every time I listen to it, I pick up different things from it. I just wanted to talk about the idea of a "Near LIFE Experience" for a second. I mean...what does that mean to people? If you read the lyrics, it could have just as easily been named "Near DEATH experience" which is the more commonly used term. Calling it a near life experience gives it this interesting dissonance in my mind....like isn't a LIFE experience supposed to be a good thing? Well, that is the lingering question and moral to ponder after this song and it always keeps me thinking about that concept. The way I interpret it for myself is that this character was telling us about something that really shook up his world... If you read the first couple lines it almost starts out like a ghost story.....like basically....lets all sit around a campfire and I'm gonna tell you about something that you're not going to believe. "I know because it happened to me" type of thing. Heck, Jason might as well shine a flashlight on his face if he ever sings this live....hahaha....you know what I mean? But the next lines talk about spiders crawling around and cobwebs in the brain...it's like those things that bother us and the "cobweb" memories are there and this character (lets call him Everyman from now on, shall we? haha) was trying to forget or drown them out. Someone is obviously concerned about Everyman's depression and the way he is coping with it...."chasing that buzz" coupled with "drown out" makes me think of alcoholism, but its still open enough to be interpreted as any type of escapism that one would use to try to numb and avoid facing pain. The lyrics also suggest that there is some kind of significant and probably sad event that is stuck in Everyman's mind and it's frozen there and the same mistakes keep happening and it keeps him down. So maybe as Everyman was chasing that buzz, he didn't know what he was doing "throwing darts in the dark" What he was after eludes him in the end but he gets what he deserved and its enough to bring him to his knees. The question and the glimmer of hope in the song is "Is this where I end...or is this where we begin?" To me that could mean.... if I can just put aside my own issues and get out of my own way, maybe there is a chance at a new beginning for me with the "YOU" that is referred to earlier perhaps. So basically....maybe I need to die before we can begin....maybe this journey of mistakes is going to bring a new beginning. That type of theme. But when Everyman is in the midst of it....it's not what he wants...."Make this go away...I'm begging please....there's little life left here for me to bleed" It's like the rock bottom moment of his life. There is a stanza that just explores the whole emotional roller coaster of trying to stay positive but feeling sad about your situation and taking shortcuts isn't working out. The pain is making him feel crazy and question his sanity and he's not able to just hide anymore from it. He had to face it. It's like he thought he saw a flash of a life that he chased and maybe THAT is the 'near LIFE' experience. But it turned out to be complete disaster or illusion at best. And it scared him....woke him up and he's now lived to tell about it and you come full circle to the beginning of the song again. "cycles keep repeating" I think I relate to this song because I have had what I feel like are "Near Life Experiences" When I think of the song with me as the character it's so personal that I don't feel comfortable discussing it on a public forum, but it's something about it that I can relate. So although its a sad song mostly...it's really been a friend to me because I once again feel like Jason wrote lyrics that other people in dire situations can relate to and therefor not feel so alone or so different. This character is human and exposed and maybe you're the character when you listen to it or maybe you're someone who can learn from this character's "ghost story." Sorry for rambling there...haha add: Ok...another way to interpret the term "near life experience" Maybe it's not a near death experience because you weren't in physical danger of dying, but you learned that life feels like it can emotionally almost kill you....so it's a near life experience? haha...IDK if I'm explaining that like I'm thinking about it in my head, but that just occurred to me.
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Post by sylviagrace on Jul 13, 2010 19:43:07 GMT -5
I'm almost scared to put my interpretation because it's so very religious and personal at the same time. But anyhow, this is one of my two favorite songs, I love it so much. Despite its darkness, I see it as entirely positive, like a release. It's like you're realizing all this bad stuff inside of you that's been building up and you finally realize that it's there, and you need to face it. It's a humbling experience. When it says, "Is this where I end, or is this where we begin?" I think the "we" is referring to the first person and God, because when you reach the end of yourself, I think that's when you realize that you need Him to carry you on. And it's really painful to get to that point - it's like everything you thought was yours is actually nothing. So I love this song, I think it's one of the only ones from the new album that is that deep and personal, and it reveals a side of Jason that he's never shown before.
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Post by meganhky on Jan 6, 2011 0:14:00 GMT -5
This song to me is an example of his inner thoughts to what many would call "god" or however you want to put it - the mystery that is- or whatever that seems to be the source of inspiration for many of his songs. Anyone caught up in the mystery of life to the point where it becomes EVERYTHING I think immediately identifies with almost every Lifehouse song. One starts searching further out analyzing the situations of everyone in the world, the chaos of poverty, war, what is my part through all of this horrible crap and it just eats away at you to the point where you literally lose your mind, and wade through all of your subconscious fears, worries, doubts and go through many doubts of humanity, religion, etc., while you take on the viewpoints of many in the world and you start realizing that life isn't so clear as who's on the list for heaven, and who isn't. People are so enamored by themselves and their exact places that they can't step outside themselves to see that life is the BIGGEST MYSTERY and it can make you lose your mind, your sense of direction, hopelessness at the fact that such despair can exist amongst such beauty and hope and love, and you have to wade back through all the troubles to come to realize that you're "all in for life"..... Just my 2 cents and how I take everything music is meant to hit people differently, even if it isn't intended to so this could be! I just read the lyrics of the last two cd's, I've been out to lunch so to speak and haven't bought the last two CD's yet but plan on going out tomorrow! My favorite song is Breathing, but Sick cycle.. is close!
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Post by allie on Aug 15, 2011 2:55:32 GMT -5
Despite its darkness, I see it as entirely positive, like a release. It's like you're realizing all this bad stuff inside of you that's been building up and you finally realize that it's there, and you need to face it. It's a humbling experience. When it says, "Is this where I end, or is this where we begin?" I think the "we" is referring to the first person and God, because when you reach the end of yourself, I think that's when you realize that you need Him to carry you on. And it's really painful to get to that point - it's like everything you thought was yours is actually nothing. I had similar interpretations for this song as well. It is definitely one of my favorite songs of theirs from the last few albums, at least.
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Post by breathing on Jan 28, 2013 6:12:25 GMT -5
I love this song! My interpretation will probably be very different, but hey here goes!
I feel this song is about confronting himself and his mind, and about starting a new, and taking control of his own life - having a 'new life experience'
He talks about the 'cobwebs' in his mind and looking like a ghost, and saying he almost was. It sounds like he's been broken down in life and needs to start a new. It sounds to me, like he's been made to do things he didn't agree with 'act like we love, what we really detest' and how he became someone he didn't like, or reached the bottom chasing something that wasn't right for him.
I feel like the song is about him taking control of his life, starting fresh and take a new turn. Perhaps he hasn't been living how he wanted, or hasn't really been living at all. That's why the line ' this new life experience scared me to death' comes in, as for the first time, he is really living!
I really like the lyric 'I didn't get what I want, I got what I need.'
I think Matchbox twenty have a similar lyric in 'The difference' 'for all you know, this could be, the difference between what you need and what you wanna be'
It makes you realise that you can't always have what you want, but it might be what is right for you. (I guess it's quite self-explanatory, but I like it!)
also 'it hurts like hell down here on my knees' makes me think of him serving someone, and how he now wants to take control of his life.
It makes me feel like someone who is in a job where there are just a worker mule, they do what they are told to do, and are beat down, they are 'on their knees' to their employer, and haven't been living the way they want to. They have taken a new turn, have stopped being down trodden and starting a-fresh. They are having a 'new life experience' in just living, and realising it's not all about working and being down trodden. This is what I think of when I hear the line 'I looked like a ghost, man I almost was' ie they've worked so hard, they were drained and not feeling human anymore.
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