This is a post of appreciation for Against The Current songs Demons and Paralyzed.
I want to say, Will, Dan & Chrissy, thank you for putting it to words. I don't know if you intended to, but words from these songs describes many things people with Mental Illness (AKA inner demons) feels. Listening to it makes one feel validated. And that's something.
I'm not sure if the songs were made for people who are battling with their inner demons but they will easily relate to the words of these songs.
So how about you guys listen to the song and read these lyrics?
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I read your veins like lines on a map
But I got no destination
See the smoke and signals rise from my breath
And the flames are cold and patient
I filled you with a wonderland born of my imagination
And go, I can't
'Cause my demons tied me down
With silk chains wrapped around my soul
It seems so obvious that I should put an end to this
But demons take control
Like dark sins in my soul
I know it seems so obvious that I should put an end to this
Oh, no, they're just demons
I'm pushing through the blood in you
To heal where you've been hurting
And I'm so numb, I don't feel it run
When it stains the walls around me
I filled the room with shades of you
Drawn in my imagination
And go, I can't
'Cause my demons tied me down
With silk chains wrapped around my soul
It seems so obvious that I should put an end to this
But demons take control
Like dark sins in my soul
I know it seems so obvious that I should put an end to this
Oh, no, they're just demons
They're just demons
They're just demons
They're just demons
Staring up the road
Sick of the darkness and the cold
The chains are wearing thin
Oh, I'm fighting for us both
I built this wonderland
Drenched in the colours of your skin
And go, I can't
'Cause my demons tied me down
But silk chains are broken now
It seems so obvious that I should put an end to this
But demons take control
Like dark sins in my soul
I know it seems so obvious that I should put an end to this
Oh, no, they're just demons
They're just demons
---
Demons easily describes how one would want to stop feeling they do and just be happy, live their lives but the demons tie them down to stop living their lives the way they would want to.
There is subtle hint of it being a love song with the lyrics "I'm fighting for us both" but I'd like to think that it pertains to rational self (I like to compare it in Psychology, to what is called Super Ego--Freudan term, don't make me elaborate) and the depressed self. The super ego is trying to be reasonable and talk to the depressed self and pull them both out of self-made misery but can't do it if only half of the whole self is willing to.
One can feel and hear the frustration and the resignation in the way Chrissy sang it, or simply reading the song lyrics. And what I love about it is, nearing the end, narration of the song talks about the loosing chains of the demons. The declaration that kinda says "they're just demons and I'm stronger than any demon there is". I love the subtle way the song raised hope.
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Have you had a million reasons why you wish you'd never seen the truth?
Have you looked into the mirror and the problem's staring back at you?
I can't control myself
Don't know who I've been
And who is this monster wearing my skin?
A movie in black and white
When will it end?
'Cause every time I scream no one hears me
It feels like I'm paralyzed and I can't
Escape from the prison I'm living in
I'm naming the voices in my head
They keep on telling me to give in
But it's making me stronger
Fight a little longer
I'm gonna bring me back to life
And I won't be paralyzed
Have you searched for something deeper out of fear that life's a lonely road?
Have you roamed the darkest corners of the earth until you're just a ghost?
I can't control myself
Don't know who I've been
And who is this monster wearing my skin?
A movie in black and white
When will it end?
'Cause every time I scream no one hears me
It feels like I'm paralyzed and I can't
Escape from the prison I'm living in
I'm naming the voices in my head
They keep on telling me to give in
But it's making me stronger
Fight a little longer
I'm gonna bring me back to life
And I won't be paralyzed
I'm not afraid
I can face my demons even if they tear me down
If I fall, let me fall
It might take time but I'll find my own way out
It feels like I'm paralyzed and I can't
Escape from the prison I'm living in
It feels like I'm paralyzed and I can't
Escape from the prison I'm living in
I'm naming the voices in my head
They keep on telling me to give in
But it's making me stronger
Fight a little longer
I'm gonna bring me back to life
It feels like I'm paralyzed
Feels like I'm paralyzed
It feels like I'm paralyzed
Feels like I'm paralyzed
But it's making me stronger
Fight a little longer
I'm gonna bring me back to life
And I won't be paralyzed
---
The song talks about knowing something's wrong and the struggle within yourself to make it right. It is relatable to people who have "episodes". It's like " yes, that's me, yet, no, that's not me" minding.
What makes it awesome is that the song doesn't make it sound petty and annoyingly self-centered; it kinda makes you feel the frustration yet it also makes you feel the urge to win the battle within yourself.
Because that's the thing: people with mental illnesses are battling to make themselves feel normal. Believe me, people with mental illnesses would never wish anyone to feel the way they feel.
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