| Awolnation – Sail Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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I have a friend who keeps INSISTING that ADD means "Alcohol & Drug Dependency" too... Pretty sure he got that idea off of this comment thread, because I can't quite find it elsewhere on the net. Seems there are quite a number of people would LIKE to agree to this... Mostly because it feels more relatable to them. It's just something we humans like to do, we absorb music (or other forms of art) and mold it to fit our own interpretation of the emotions and vibes from the song. Like, "Oh hey, this makes more sense to me, and it calls out to me more, therefore my explanation of it must be true." (It is our common shortcoming, to be so egocentric in our evaluation of things we perceive.) BUT, it's hard to deny that wonderful feeling which comes from having something you relate to strongly, be so poetically expressed in a song. So... as much as I had the urge to correct my friend, I let him have it. There are mainly 2 reasons why people jump on board this alternative interpretation wagon of what ADD means. 1) They are (or believe themselves to be) alcoholic/drug addicts 2) They don't really know what ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is actually about. It's the second reason that, I have to admit, bothers me a lot... Because I think most would just write off ADD as "just some attention related thing". I think when most people, who do not have ADD or any prior experience with it from someone close, try to picture what ADD would feel like, they just see some kid getting distracted and not paying attention in class. Hardly anything close to the 'dark' theme of this song... Right? Wrong- It affects everything, not just school. Career, close relationships and personal well-being... Especially when you are an adult with ADHD, the frustration and blame from yourself and people close to you can become really heavy. "Why can't I even function like a normal person?... Why are there so many intense thoughts in my head?" Which is why ADD is closely linked to anxiety and depression, and even the mentioned dependency on drugs and alcohol. ...Truth is, I am bothered because I am writing this as someone who is still struggling to work with ADD as an adult. Even then, I am aware that my stance on what the ADD in the song stands for could just be my personal bias towards the disorder... except, Aaron Bruno himself (who IS diagnosed with ADHD) has already mentioned in an interview that it is what the song's about. Link here: http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/soundcheck/content/awolnations-aaron-bruno-talks-sail-electronic-influences-and-art-melding-genres So, yeah, I hope this clears it up for everyone... But still, don't let it stop you from interpreting the song in the way you want to, to relate to the music, because that's your liberty to do so and it's beautiful. Peace. |
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