Wasted

The hardest part is being invisible.

"WASTED" - RESISTANT READING

At a recent gig I was floored by the atmosphere of intensity when Julia sang wasted - such poignant duality; infactuation can intoxicate you, or ravage & destroy you...

She said when she "first wrote [the song] it was about being intoxicated by infactuation for someone, but today [she] sings it with a different one" and it was really the second meaning she alluded to that is essentially captured by ameliabeth and seato.

Scenario: Unrequited love. She loves him, but this intense infactuation is wasted on = unappreciated, unwanted or unknown by her "love".

"Wasted" has two components under this reading. Firstly it has a sence of loss, in thather love goes to"waste". Secondly there is a sence of destruction, in that the situation is crushing and destroying her. She is overwhelmed by a combination of emotion and confusion. The consequence of being "overwhelmed" is it makes you unstable, and unproductive. Thus her as a person is "wasted" or destroyed as a result.

"I don't know just what I'll do Everytime you walk into the room" This conveys confusion, and a sence of being overwhelmed by, and unable to cope with, seeing him. She is also confused about her situation generally - his feelings, and her actions.

"Oh my head is spinning around And I can't see clearly right now" Her intense emotions overwhelm her, and she is sent into a spiral of conflicting emotions and confusion.

"I don't know if I'll survive, In this magical land behind your eyes." Once again she is so confused and pent up about her situation and her emotions that it feels like it is slowly destroying (wasting) her. She spends so much of her time trying to second gues what is going on in his head, "behind his eyes". She comes up with meanings/motivations behind his actions that are unlikely/fanciful to the point of being magical. Ultimately she feels like she is crushed under the weight of emotion, confuion and obsession.

"And there's all these funny little men, There all asking me to dance and sing." She is emotionally uninvolved in her real life. She alienates anyone who shows her affection, calling them "funny little men". She also paints their affection as ludicrus, and she is so far removed from the joy they propose "dance and sing" that it too seems outlandish and irrational.

"Red and yellow, pink and green, purple and orange and blue. Are all of the colours I see my love, everytime I see you." She "sees" all the colours in the same way you would "see red". It describes her complex array of emotion, and her feelings of being confused and overwhelmed by it.

RED is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love.

YELLOW is the color of sunshine. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.

PINK signifies romance, love, and friendship. It denotes feminine qualities and passiveness.

GREEN is both associated with ambition, greed, and jealousy, and nature symbolizing growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility.

PURPLE is associated with royalty andbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition as well as being associated with independence, creativity, mystery, and magic.

ORANGE is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics as well as representing enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation.

BLUE signifies infinity. The view extends upto the blue distance of sky and sea. It is the colour of emptiness, signifying"death" and sadness.

I think it is important that she begins with red - passion and rage, and ends with blue - emptiness and infinite sadness. Ending with blue metaphorically captures the lamenting nostalgic vibe that permiates the entire song when read for the alternative meaning.

This song is is really, truly beautiful.

I think I am convinced enough that the song is about a woman completely in love. She is ‘wasted’ (drunk) on his love, BUT… I was thinking of it from a different angle and it ALMOST makes sense.

Wasted could be about a woman who is actually in love (or at least in a relationship) with a man that is not showing her the affection she deserves. That is her life is being ‘wasted’ by this boy.

The first verse would be about the confusion of the relationship and how she hates it so much her head is spinning and can’t see clearly.

The second verse would the go on to describe how she can’t last in the relationship, living in his imaginary world where everything is alright. In the mean time, in real life there are lots of other men showing her attention, and asking her to come out and play.

Now the 3rd verse is the hard stretch, but I will give it go. How about we say… “The colours represent the blur that surrounds her confused mind” Na, that doesn’t cut it. Oh well, gave it a shot.

How good are these guys. Love all their stuff.

NO the order of the colours are from that children's 'i can sing a rainbow' song. i remember singing it in primary school.

i always thought it was the girl wasting her love on the boy who never loved her back - a very relatable story.

but i think it has many meanings, thats just what i get out of it :)

x

He's intoxicated by her, but the line "in this magical land behind your eyes" makes me wonder if he believes she does not have a clear picture of him OR he is living out a fantasy (and not in her physical life). Great band...one of my favorites. So many good tracks from which to choose.

I think this song is about a girl who is deeply in love with this guy, but for some reason (in my case a lot of reasons) they either can't be together (a few of my reasons in my case) or they don't know how they feel about each other and they're both too scared to ask.

I don't know just what I'll do Every time you walk into the room Oh my head is spinning around And I can't see clearly right now

I think that she's so in love, she gets nervous and doesn't know how to act around him. I think she really wants to talk about her feelings for him, with him, but she's too scared.

I'm wasted I'm so wasted on you I'm so wasted on you

When I think about my situation, I get what Julia is saying. When you're in love, you sometimes feel like you're drunk. At least I do.

I don't know if I'll survive, In this magical land behind your eyes. And there's all these funny little men, There all asking me to dance and sing.

She's trying to let go of him (trying to survive the heartbreak? but still thinking about him and the way he makes her feel) and other men are trying to get her to like them, but they can't live up to the guy she's in love with, so she calls them funny little men.

I'm wasted I'm so wasted on you I'm so wasted on you

Red and yellow, pink and green, purple and orange and blue. Are all of the colors I see my love, every time I see you.

I'm not sure what this means, but I interpret it as the romantic, colorful vibe you get when you're in love, like you're looking at them through a rainbow (?).

I'm wasted I'm so wasted on you I'm so wasted on you

It has to be about being head-over-heels for someone...i love this song its beautiful!

its about being infactuated with someone. this song makes me feel light and airy. lovely.

infatuation is the basis of the whole song - i agree wih everyone so far. especially seato, i thought it meant 'wasted' in both senses, too. such an amazing song.