Incubus: Drive Meaning
Song Released: 1998
Drive Lyrics
And I cant help but ask myself how much I'll let the fear take the wheel and steer
It's driven me before, it seems to have a vague
Haunting mass appeal
Lately I'm beginning to find that...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:"Sometimes I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear"
The writer suffers keenly in mind or in feelings from fear of the unknown.
"And I can’t help but ask myself how much I'll let the fear take the wheel and steer"
The writer wonders how much he allows this fear to control his life.
"It's driven me before,"
Fear of the unknown has controlled the writer’s life at times, he concludes.
"It seems to have a vague, haunting mass appeal"
I’m not sure about this line. Perhaps the fear of uncertainty can be a crutch with some appeal. Fear of uncertainty may sometimes give him the luxury of staying still, resting, instead of moving forward. Sitting still has an appeal to many of us, and many of us often live in fear of the future.
"Lately I'm beginning to find that I should be the one behind the wheel"
The writer is realizing that he would do better to take more control, in spite of his fears, instead of letting fear control him.
"Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there"
The writer affirms that he will wait until tomorrow to deal with tomorrow. He implies that he will live more in the moment and less in the future, keeping in mind that uncertainty about the future is the source of his fear.
"With open arms"
The writer will embrace or accept whatever comes tomorrow. He will deal with it, instead of avoiding it, out of fear.
"and open eyes yeah"
The author anticipates he’ll be more able to be mindful of his surroundings, if today, he lives for today, and tomorrow, he lives for tomorrow, instead of the next day.
"Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there, I'll be there"
Again the writer wants to be present in the moment, not distracted by fear of the uncertain future.
"So if I decide to waiver my chance to be one of the hive"
The writer talks of the possibility of refusing to live, as many do, in fear of the future. When the author uses “waiver,” he is being sarcastic. When we waive something, we think of ourselves as giving up something good, like a right provided by law or contract. But the writer speaks of giving up a bad habit.
"Will I choose water over wine and hold my own and drive, oh oh"
I’m uncertain of the meaning here. One online dictionary of symbolism states:
Water has symbolic, archetypal meaning in that it either provides life, or harbors mystery and danger. … Water [is] the central ingredient of life. (We die of thirst much more quickly than we starve.) More importantly, knowing where the water was meant knowing where the food was.
However, as commerce expanded, water became a necessary evil that harbored unknown dangers. Water travel was dangerous and uncertain as sea creatures, storms and rough seas claimed numerous voyagers. …
On the positive side, water is often a symbol of new life, refreshment and vigor.
Controlled water is the key.
Red wine often symbolizes the blood of your spiritual life. Red wine may symbolize either passion or {a more satisfying} life.
Perhaps the writer means that he can choose to do to his best to control his fear and his destiny, or he can choose to sit, which can be satisfying, in the short term. Or he can choose to use wine or other substances or other short-term means of dealing with fear.
"It's driven me before; it seems to be the way that everyone else gets around"
Again, the writer references the fact that he, and many of us, often allow fear to control us. -
2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:Sometimes it is the fear to make a mistake ant take the wrong decision which makes you look away and let destiny or time chose for you. That is when fear takes the wheel and you let go of it!
-
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:It's obvious..
"Sometimes I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear"
Hes talking about a Christian being afraid of his doubts.
"And I can’t help but ask myself how much I'll let the fear take the wheel and steer"
Hes wondering how much he allows his fear of God in his decisions in his life.
"It's driven me before,"
He has made decisions out of fear of God in his life before.
"It seems to have a vague, haunting mass appeal"
Hes acknowledging that Christianity has a large fallowing in a negative way.
"Lately I'm beginning to find that I should be the one behind the wheel"
He believes that he would do better to take control of his life, in spite of his fears of God, instead of letting God control him. (something satan would say)
"Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there"
He affirms that he will deal with tomorrow alone without God and his guidance & protection.
"With open arms"
He will embrace or accept whatever comes tomorrow. He will deal with it.
"and open eyes yeah"
Hes anticipates he’ll have to be careful of his decensions living apart from God and his guidance & protection.
"Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there, I'll be there"
Hes saying that he doesn't need Gods protection and guidance. (something satan wants you to believe)
"So if I decide to waiver my chance to be one of the hive"
Hes deciding to leave the church "hive"
"Will I choose water over wine and hold my own and drive, oh oh"
In the Lord's Supper, When we drink the "fruit of the vine," (wine) we remember that Jesus' blood was shed for us, and that it signifies the new covenant.
Hes deciding to be Christan or not.
"It's driven me before; it seems to be the way that everyone else gets around"
Again referencing to making decensions out of fear of God and that everyone seems to be doing the same. Almost as if he's mocking Christianity. -
in the Bible Jesus turned water to wine at a wedding. The water was the water of purification. It is made from mixing it with the ashes of a red heifer. That was the way to self purify before Jesus shed his blood on the cross. So thats symbolism, meaning if you choose the water, instead of the wine (blood of christ) for purification, you're choosing your own wide path, insted of the narrow one (Jesus Christ) that is the only way to salvation. Satanism hides everywhere in pop culture
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I strongly see a relevance to my experience in my current relationship. My partner allows fear and doubt to rise up and bring about destructive actions again and again. This is the case with many people who have been hurt and betrayed by people they love and believed in. The point is not to continue doing what is so rampantly familiar with so many of us but to learn from our experience and make the better choices in the way we handle ourselves.
-
FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH ==>
Lead singer Brandon Boyd: "The lyric is basically about fear, about being driven all your life by it and making decisions from fear. It's about imagining what life would be like if you didn't live it that way." -
I personally think drive means the road to sobriety, not letting alcohol control you. Not using alcohol to escape from reality. "It's driven me before, and it seems to have a vague
Haunting mass appeal" all the flashbacks that come to you after you sober up from an alcohol binge, realizing all the wreckless choices you made while blacked out.."Will I choose water over wine and hold my own and drive" will i not turn to alcohol for comfort when life gets scary or tough,will i ride it out drunk and to wasted to make my own choices or will i man up,face life sober and hold my own and steer myself down the right road instead of letting addiction take the wheel and 5-10 years go by so fast then you end up with nothing but a bottle wondering why you ended up where you did in life. because you were to afraid to steer because you were to afraid to drive. your used to being the passengerand your addiction driving you.. straight from the heart i truly feel the interpretation of this song is about not allowing addiction to drive your life. -
I heard this song again recently, I like it(side note: Some of its guitar chords are unusual, somewhat difficult.) like many I wasn't sure of exactly what some words in lyric were. I thought "waiver..." Line ended with high, but now saw hive. I kinda thought there was a Spiritual/Religion theme always to it. I also thought before the waiver line could of been the writer singer's contemplation if he just turned his back on fame and the whole music/Hollywood scene. As he's not really in the regular rat race like the most of society. Also the water over wine, could be he may be or is putting himself in a position like Thomas Jefferson and be a non-believer in at least the miracles listed in The Bible. As others have speculated he is kind of leery of organized religion, but he feels ok with that knowing Jesus was anti-religious esp. Towards the leaders/Pharisees. Still life is scary, and fear of the future, but like the psalmists do he states his fear/pours out his complaint, and then makes the resolve to "pull himself up by the bootstraps" If you look in Psalms this is a common theme(Psalms means songs, or Greek poema.)see i.e. Psalm 42, writer is depressed, burdened, but reaches deep and up to God for help to pull him out that funk. The whole drive thing I think he is struggling with self-will, and Gods Will. I think its Carrie Underwood has song "Jesus,take the wheel." He observes how the throngs seem to get by just fine without God or any higher direction/assistance "seems to be the way everyone else gets around." but he realizes he's made a decision at least as step 3 in recovery to turn will over to God. "my life is found." As The Gospel condensed "The Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost." Luke 19:10 Has been my experience with nearly 19 years free of heroin and alcohol, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this, also though I'm a professional driver, and realize I have to do everything in my power to keep control, alert, stamina etc. I still get all my strength from God. And God has seen me through when my aforementioned self efforts have waned. Captainmidnite.
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OK, bottom line - you have to live your own life for something bigger than your life. But that doesn't mean you have to buy the superstition that all religion is. Just take life the way it is...
Dolly Mama -
Ok, some interpretations here are ridiculous.
Drive talks about the importance of taking the wheel on our own lives. The importante of individual though and action, which became rare.
Masses are driven in flocks, and people end up forgetting to use their own heads. Exactly how Brandon does, he sees through all society's bullshit and he feels the need to change things. -
I believe that this song simply explains that whatever is thrown at you, you should accept it and be thankful for what you have
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I do think this song is indeed about fear, like everyone already concluded. The line 'choose water over wine' is an interesting one though. Think about it. We all need water to survive. Water gets us hydrated. Without water we die.
Then wine, alcohol dehydrates. It gives us a feeling like we are drinking, but actually it's just a fake excuse for water. We are fooling ourselves while drinking wine.
Maybe this can be thrown into a bigger perspective: if wine is just something 'fake' everyone believes in but does taste good, are we willing to give this up? Maybe we are drinking wine in fear of water. Water is too 'real'. We don't want to face reality. We rather live in a surrogate world, a made-believe world.
It's of course just my interpretation, and honestly i think everyone will have his own way of looking at these lyrics. It's nice that it can have many meanings :) -
It's pretty much about recovery.. alcoholism and the struggle of turning from it completely- "It's driven me before and seems to be the way everyone else gets around." an optimistic outlook on turning from the destructive crutch.
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I completely agree with Jerrye and Roland. but also suggest reading "The Power of Now" by Eckhardt Tole because it is ALL ABOUT THIS SONG and its meaning.....
its deeeeeep. check it out dudes. -
Sobriety...
For me any way, it sounds like an introspection, a reflection and then a choice.
""With open arms and open eyes"...(clear and sober) ;-) -
I think jerrye's interpretation is spot on except I would like to add to the "Choose the water over wine" line.
I think the whole allusion to driving being taking control your life is continued here in that choosing wine and driving would be akin to recklessly letting the fear drive and then dealing with the circumstances. On the other hand choosing the water would be as he said, choosing clarity and taking 'sober' control of the ride, that is, life.
I agree with those saying this song isn't about drinking a driving but this section of the song makes the comparison of drinking and driving to giving in and letting fear take over.
You also can't damn others for how they interpret the song. Most artists encourage fans to take their own interpretations from each and every song. So criticizing each other's views goes against the grain of not just music but art in it's entirety.
-Roland -
I actually believe it may refer too religion. Dont really feel like typing why but hey, think about it.
-
Basically it's saying take the chance. don't let your fear keep you from doing it.
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