Horses

I don't know the motivations of the girls in the band, so my remarks are simply about my own reaction to it. My best guess would be that this song talks about some kind of abuse by the father and the children's efforts to break free of it. However, this song struck me very strongly the first time I heard it for other reasons.

I have Asperger's Syndrome, a high-functioning form of Autism. My two sons have been diagnosed with it as well, and I am also a Special Educator who works with kids with disabilities. A hallmark characteristic of Asperger's is difficulty in understanding the social world. For this reason, many people with it identify more with animals than with other people. I recently had a boy in my class who would literally go into his family's fields and run around with the animals. "They don't care that [he is] broken." I would imagine that in his mind, he was "already free" and running "in [his] dreams."

There are other lyrics that probably weren't written with Autism in mind but that resonate with me anyway. The word Autism literally means "self-ness," and refers to a condition where the person with it seems to live in his/her own world. "I live in my head" strikes at the core of this feeling. The next line, "I don't look like my photos" is also apt because many people with Autism struggle to identify and remember faces, and even their own can seem unfamiliar. And finally, because people with Asperger's in particular are cognitively high-functioning, many of us realize our social deficits. We want to be close to people, but we don't know how to negotiate relationships, and when people are close to us we are often overwhelmed. Just as often, we inadvertently push them away. "I hate the sound of the world outside 'cause everybody coming here can't wait to say goodbye." These lyrics are poignant and powerful to me.

Perhaps these lyrics speak to anyone who feels self-doubt or fear and longs to be free. Either way, it's a gorgeous song that nearly brings me to tears each time I hear it.