The War on Drugs: Pain Meaning

Song Released: 2018

Pain Lyrics

We don't currently have the lyrics for Pain, Care to share them?

1. ddg

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   Dec 20th 2020 !⃝

   In general: the song seems to describe an internal struggle within the main character, probably a dark side versus a bright side, could be related to mental disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or just the struggle every person has to deal with. I think this follows from the meaning of the lines in the chorus, but also from the grammar, like “Pull me close and let me hold you in” and “Hang your head and let me in, I’m waitin’”. He’s combining first and second person.
   
   
   Go to bed now I can tell
   Pain is on the way out now
   Look away, a domino falls away
   
   He’s losing consiousness, because of sleep or otherwise (drugs, medication). Finally the pain is released. “Domino falls away” indicates that he can’t see cause and effect anymore, what’s in the past and what is now (this is continued later in the lyrics).
   
   I know it's hard lookin' in
   Knowin' that tomorrow you'll be back again
   Hang your head and let me in, I'm waitin'
   So long
   
   Still falling out of conciousness, but looking from the outside. He’s disappointed with himself, it’s hard to look at himself. His outside self says to his inner self to hang his head (be ashamed). Let me take over from now.
   So long - he’s asleep
   
   I was staring into the light
   When I saw you in the distance, I knew that you'd be mine
   Am I movin' back in time?
   Just standin' still?
   
   In his sleep he encounters some past trauma, it’s not made clear what it is. The cause and effect are still gone, he can’t tell if this is now or the past (moving back in time), it probably feels terrifyingly real. He feels that he is stuck with this trauma, standing still.
   
   I met a man with a broken back
   He had a fear in his eyes that I could understand
   I can't even shake the pain without breakin'
   
   Still in his dream he encounters a very broken and vulnerable man, this might be himself. He can’t help himself without making things worse, without breaking more stuff.
   
   I'm just pullin' on a wire, but it just won't break
   I've been turnin' up a dial, but I hear no sound
   I resist what I cannot change, own it in your own way
   Yeah, I wanna find what can't be found
   
   This is by far the most profound part in the lyrics, very emotional and universal. It’s about the pain of living, for every human, and the paradox of acceptance. Most of us spend our times worrying about the things we can’t influence, but the things we can influence we let untouched. When we stop resisting, when we stop searching, that is when we will notice other beautiful things and start finding new meaning.
   
   I'm aware you're tired and lost
   Like a demon in a doorway, waiting to be born
   But I'm here all alone, just beggin'
   
   His alter ego in his sleep reflects on the fact that he is tired and lost. In his sleep he can already predict that he will wake up and be his miserable self again, the demon that will be born (every day). He begs to himself to stay there.
   
   Pull me close and let me hold you in
   Give me the deeper understanding of who I am
   Yeah, I'm going back again, I'm waiting here
   
   His inner and outer self interacting again. Trying to comfort himself after the dream, before waking up. He’s going back again into the dream realm, but he will be waiting there for the next encounter tomorrow night.
   

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