| Porcupine Tree – Anesthetize Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Ok, so this is my first song interpretation thing on this website. I felt compelled to share my views on this fantastic song as many others have. I think the meaning of this song has a lot to do with the title, "Anesthetize". And, bear with me, is largely relating to the somewhat unpopular view (held by many individuals and notably scientolgists) that Anesthetisa for treatment of mental conditions such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder is either morally wrong, ineffective or at least over used in modern society. As has been mentioned, there appears to be three distinct parts to this song. Each I believe dealing with one individual in three different stages of their mental struggle. The first section of the song I believe deals with someone who has a mental condition of some sort, be it depression, anxiety or something more serious such as schizophrenia. The lyrics (as with most PT lyrics) are rather vague but I believe that they (and the way in which they are spoken) convey a clear message of someone suffering from a slight mental illness of some sort, possibly brought on by living in the modern society. The modern world can run people down quite easily and as a result many people feel they are depressed, paranoid or anxious, despite not actually having anything seriously wrong with them. And as a result, they see their psychiatrist who loads them up with prozac and sends them on their way. The second section of the song is the part where the individual has been "Anesthetized" by the drugs he has taken to combat his mental issues. As a result, he has been made into an apathetic, consumerist, almost unconscious individual. There are numerous references that can be made here: "Apathy from the Pills in me": Rather straight forward. The side-effects of depression drugs. "Electricity": Cerebral Electrotherapy - Controversial technique used for the treatment of depression, anxiety, and insomnia. "Cod philosophy": Psychiatry? There is also a comment regarding holding a gun, which could be a possible relation to shootings that have occured with people loaded up on depression drugs such as prozac. For instance, Steven Kazmierczak who shot up Northern Illinois University earlier this year (worth noting that FoaBP was released quite some time before this incident). The third part of the song I'm not so sure about. I believe, just prior to the third section (possibly at the climax of the instrumental section of the song) the indivudual abandoned the treatment he was recieving including the drugs and electrotherapy that he was undergoing that essentially Anesthetized him. The final scene we are left with is the individual on the shoreline taking in the beauty the world has to offer him which he previously had not noticed nor felt whilst Anesthetized. The key words being "warm" and "smiled" as they denote feeling, something non-existent to him during the second section. In regards to the final line, I think it may be similar to XCrusherX interpretation, whereby the individual looks to his partner or lover to see if they too are taking in the beauty of this moment, only to see that they are still Anesthetized and don't feel the things that he feels. Longwinded, but thats my take. FWIW, I don't necessarily believe that Steven Wilson actually believes such things about psychiatry. SW said that doesn't specifically send messages through his music that this is wrong or this is right, instead it is supposed to hold a mirror to what's happening in the world at any given time. The overuse of depression drugs such as Prozac for the treatment of mental issues is all to common in today's society, and given FoaBP is pretty much a concept album on the issues of modern society, this could be the image SW is trying to convey in his mirror. |
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