I Just Want You to Know Who I Am

          Iris by Goo Goo Dolls… a song that I have heard several times and liked the lyrics of even though I wasn’t quite sure what it all meant. As I was listening to YouTube today I heard it as a soundtrack for something and decided to look up the lyrics.

And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now

And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
'Cause sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies
When everything feels like the movies
Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

          

          Some of this is, of course, self-explanatory. I think the problem I have is not what the words are actually saying, but the meaning behind them. What, exactly, was the writer trying to say? Think about that. I mean, does the world actually understand anyone who is different than what the world seems to deem ‘normal?’ Every human being on the planet is different in one way or another and even I, who has spent a lifetime studying the human race, find it hard to understand a lot of what people do and say.

          “When everything’s made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.” Everything today is made to be replaced. Most cars made today are meant to be traded off within three years; after that, they start breaking down. The days of quality over quantity are over and throw-away is the name of the game. What I can’t seem to get through my thick skull is what does getting to know who he is got to do with a throw-away world? Is he referring to the throw-away relationships where the two are in it just for the sex and don’t care who their partner really is as long as they are a sexy beast?

          The last verse is probably the best one as far as I am concerned. There is so much truth in those statements. The way I am interpreting this verse is: The emotional roller-coaster that most kids are on these days makes it to where they don’t want to cry but they can’t keep from the feelings that need to come out. As for the ‘moment of truth in your lies…,’ every lie does have its’ moment of truth where the lie just doesn’t keep up. I could probably write page after page on just this one verse, but I won’t bore you with that.

          The last two lines, ‘when everything feels like the movies yeah you bleed just know you’re alive…’ Wow! What more truth could anyone speak? Think about this; the whole world is hooked on fantasy lives through movies, the telly, YouTube, etc. We can’t handle reality so we go into that world of make-believe by watching movies, playing video games, soap operas, etc. We don’t live in reality. When the mood strikes we peek out of our make-believe world and, as the line says, we make ourselves bleed just to make sure we are still living in the real world.

            Music makes the world go round and without it, this earth would be one boring place. I grew up in the 60s, 70s and 80s, a time when anti-war songs were the popular thing with teens, through disco and the advent of acid rock. Now days, music is making another turn of the cycle and my kids listen to Screamo and hip-hop/rap and some stuff I have not a clue as to what they call it. It’s nice to find that there is real music still being made that you don’t have to have the lyrics in front of you to actually know what is coming out of the singer’s mouth.

          This song just happens to be one that I enjoy listening to that is ‘new’ to my generation. It’s not AC/DC, Metallica, Styx or Queen, but it is good music. Do yourself a favor, open up a new tab, go on YouTube or Spotify or whatever other music site/service you use and just sit back and listen to some good music. Try something different from what you are used to. My Mexican sons have played the Screamo and rap and all that for me from time to time and, even though it gives me a headache, I listen just to keep in touch with them. In Fear and Faith has a song called Enigmatic that is all piano-from a screamo band! Kingdom Hearts has some of the most beautiful music I’ve heard for some time-from a video game, no less!

         So sit back and enjoy some peaceful time. Put in your earphones and block out the world, go to your music service of choice and play it, man, just play it. Relax and unwind and live in their world for a time.

     Ciao, baby.