Under the Bridge

@Esmeetje Two things:<br /> <br /> 1) I like most of your interpretation, so I have a question I'm hoping you'll be able to answer: what do you think he means by "she sees my good deeds and she kisses me windy" ? It's a sort of cultural expectation in the States (probably because of all the tax exemptions for the rich) that rich people (successful Hollywood types, CEOs of big corporations, rock stars (of course!), et al.) are supposed to give a lot to charity, but I have a certain hunch that it's not anything so literal.<br /> <br /> 2) There is one thing you got wrong, though...<br />

"One of the concequences [sic] from heroin, is depression."<br /> <br /> This is a common myth. Although depression can definitely be a result of H withdrawal ("discontinuation syndrome"), whether one is actually addicted or just pharmacologically dependent, it's not an effect of heroin itself, nor is it unique to drugs of abuse. (For example: if you discontinue antidepressants, too fast, you can get depressed too — this is also a discontinuation syndrome.) A lot of people start abusing drugs in an effort to self-medicate & often it's so successful at first they keep using it more and more (and of course, become addicted). So, depression is not really caused by heroin, but rather, heroin use is caused by depression.<br /> <br /> As an example...I had a really close friend at university (he was a grad student, I was an undergrad) who died from H. (It wasn't really an OD, but he took Xanax with it, or shortly before or after, and the combo was what caused the respiratory failure and stuff.).<br /> <br /> He'd started showing signs & symptoms of depression (which I recognised 'cuz I'd suffered from it myself). The fact that he had just been broken up with by this narcissistic sleazeball who abandoned him when he started getting depressed didn't exactly help. I tried to be there for him, even though I believed he was better-off being without the aforesaid sleazeball). He said that even though H didn't last very long, it did make the depression go away while it lasted. It was the greatest feeling in the universe (his words) to him. I tried to convince him that regular antidepressants would be more effective in the long run, but I didn't really make a great example: I'd had to try 4 or 5 of them before I found one that worked, and since it takes a month or so just to find out whether they're going to help or not, I ended up having to take off a whole year from school. He didn't want to have to go through that, even though I tried to convince him it's not that long for most people. He was also afraid that if he saw a psychiatrist, they'd refuse to help him until he got "clean." I said maybe he could hide it, since he didn't have track marks or anything (he was snorting it, like cocaine, not shooting up) and all the stereotypes were on his side (white, upper-middle-class, PhD student in physics at a top university, etc.). He also was worried about his advisor finding out about his mood and/or drug problems. I was speechless when I found out about his death. Besides the guilt, I felt...unfairly lucky, especially because he'd given me some H to try a couple months before, and I hadn't really liked it much, so I never did it again. I think the day I found out he'd died was the day I lost the last of what little innocence (really, naïveté is more like it) I ever possessed. Even though we lived in Boston (which has very little in common with L.A.!), every time I hear this song, with the baleful guitar and Anthony's melan-choly voice (he's so versatile!), and of course the drugs theme, I think of him.

@Esmeetje I agree with you, This was a good commentary for this song