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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I think the water over wine line can have mulitple meanings. It can be religious or it could as be a rhetorical question like "Would you choose water over wine?" The song is obviously about not letting fear get the best of you. So it could be like asking would you not take the chance? Would you just do what's safe and be boring like water? Water is pretty plaining while wine is more bold and out there.
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This is about religion and how society becomes brainwashed by religion because of their fear of what may happen, although they are uncertain of what can happen. This song is saying how one shouldn't continue to follow what every one is doing and instead live their life the way they want to live in and then they will find the true meaning of life.
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Many of you guys already got this .... To me this song is about religion and how people are brainwashed into believing all this nonsense about religion therefore they stop themselves from living the way they really want to live and allow their fear to take over their lives. This song may also be about the way society confines us and sets limitations for us and how it is time to take matters into our own hands by not following what most people do and instead take control of our own life.
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I really don't agree with any of you. The feeling that this song gives me is the feeling of hope even when all shit seems lost. It seems to mean that no matter what life throws at you, you got to keep moving forward overcoming obstacles and learning that just because life isn't easy, it doesn't mean that we should give up.life hard. In the end the beauty of it is worth all the pain.
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It's about not letting fear and peer pressure from society drive your life which most people get. It also definitely has a reference to drinking culture. "Haunting mass appeal" seems to refer to the mass appeal of alcohol and "when I drive myself my light is found" means when he drives his own life without letting the mass appeal of drinking get to him, he feels liberated. By not drinking he isn't part of "the hive" but he doesn't care about that, and choosing "water over wine, hold the wheel and drive" is a choice in nobility and taking the harder road of not fitting in, but in return he has full control of his decisions.
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I think when the artist refers to "water over wine", he is referring to choosing a life with smaller luxuries over "wine" which is a life of affluence. Drive your own life without fear even if it means giving up or not having the good things to in order to have the life you are meant to live and be happy in.
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It's about both, fear and how it rules your life and peer pressure, there's a line that says "So if I decide to waiver my chance to be one of the hive" speaking as the metaphorical term for conformity...so its both, please don't call anyone useless, just because you went to songfacts.com
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This is a song about a guy wondering if he should be"part of the hive", following what every one else does, or "take the wheel and drive", taking control of his own destiny. It's not an alcohol reference: "opens arms" are a willingness to accept "whatever tomorrow brings", and "open eyes" show a willingness to face it.
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I think its of religion. Yes it is about fear, and the most social organizations that use fear for power is christianity. He uses the term "water over wine" which is short one word of being "water into Wine." To me he says "will you believe in the unbelievable and choose the fear of Faith or will you make your own decisions about life."
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My interpretation of the phrase "choose water over wine" is that the writer wonders whether he will choose alcohol (being referred to generically as 'wine') as the a way to avoid realizing his fears. But he does hope that he will face his fear of the future head on as indicated by "whatever tomorow brings I'll be there..."
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jerrye: Good interpretation. You pretty much hit the nail on the head, except the water/wine part. Choosing water over wine is the much more responsible, yet much less popular/expected decision.
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The singer wants control over his own destiny. The analogy is of alcohol. This is most obvious in choosing water of wine, holding the wheel and driving. It is also displayed in tomorrows open eyes and arms (no hangover, full memory.)
the singer is unsure over this decision. The chance to be one of the hive speaks about all of the 'normal' people, the worker bees.
In the next verse the metaphor is mixed and adds purposeful ambiguity. It's driven me before (the desire to be part of the hive) I'm beginning to find that when I drive myself my light is found (it is positive for me when I am in control of my actions).
My interpretation reads a lot less poetically than the song. It is a beautiful song which sounds like it was written in rehab. To see it as simply an alcohol free song misses the point though, it is about taking control of your own life, make positive decisions but being unsure of yourself. -
Ok, I agree with the person above me with the whole buddhist thing, and to elaborate...
...Buddhists believe in the Eightfold Path. This is 8 ways that you have to go in your life in order to live right.
1. Right View - Realizing the Four Noble Truths
2. Right Intention - Commitment to mental and Ethical growth in moderation
3. Right Speech - One speaks in a non hurtful, not exaggerated, truthful way
4. Right Action - Wholesome action, avoiding action that would hurt others
5. Right Work - Ones job does not hurt oneself or others; directly or indirectly
6. Right Effort - One makes an effort to improve
7. Right Mindfulness - Mental ability to see things for what they are with clear consciousness
8. Right Concentration - State where one reaches enlightenment and the ego has disappeared
Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear
And I can't help but ask myself how much I'll let the fear
Take the wheel and steer
It's driven me before
And it seems to have a vague, aunting mass appeal
But lately I am beginning to find that I
Should be the one behind the wheel
basically, this is saying that you can only trust yourself in order to live a full life; "when I drive myself, my light is found" means that he was sick of his beliefs and such being dictated to him (maybe he grew up christian?) and decided to pick his own way of thinking...
he's trying to find the right path, so maybe he had found it. -
This song has nothing to do with christianity due to the fact that Brandon practices Buddhism. But I do agree with the other part about choosing the right path.
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