Bitter Pills

Firstly, I think the faded vocals before the last chorus say 'so many things I want to do' and behind that again 'there is more to life'.

I think the first half of the song is showing a representation of the loss of freedom when being an adult. 'Borrowing thoughts' , following a model etc.. all represent moving into society.

The second half is the opposite, he gains freedom once more by turning away from all the drama, making himself more vulnerable and finding who he was before.

I love how the second half talks about him not being able to remember who he was before, perhaps refering to the times when the artists were doing it tough? And all they can remember now is the good times before that and now?

Anyway, they were awesome live! Saw them down at Melb, highly reccommended!

hmmm quite an enigmatic song.

very very good song though, i love cog a lot, and am pissed i missed them live twice already!!! they sold out too fast....

anyways, im getting a gyst that it's about following the 'maps' of what has been set out by society.

his 'open door' is the deeper understanding that he has come to have, like a realisation.

dont quite know what he means by bitter pill.... maybe that truth, \and how bitter it is.

Zac.

"Turned my back on the drama And ostracised my karma I threw away all my armour Trying to find out who I was before"

For some reason, I just love the lyrics here. I went to their gig at the Uni of Canberra last night, and they finished with this song. Was a completely unexpected way to close the show, but sounded so incredible live.

This is by far my favorite song by them. Also, I believe it's supposed to be "All my life an abstraction" rather than extraction. That, I think also fits better with the following line "But if I'm more than memories". An abstraction is intangible like if her were just a memory.

The bitter pill is LSD. It enables dissolution of ego and thus, an objective look at your life.

The song is about taking LSD and feeling as if your previous self has died after the trip, as a result of all your realizations about yourself and what you are at essence as a human.

Unaware of the model, I was taught to follow. Baptised through the grapevine,

• Describes the process of unconscious assimilation into culture and the social contract we experience as children

Rescued by a daydream, Back down where I, Found the open door.

• LSD can produce a dreamlike state of consciousness, as well as enabling breakthroughs in your thought process.

And from the maps that I'd followed, Came the thoughts that I'd borrowed.

• Maps = books, writings of other people. The writer acknowledges these thoughts are not his own, and that he was inspired by others to think about things.

A bitter pill I swallowed, Cleaned my mind out, So I could explore.

• By removing your ego, you remove all bias. This is done to objectively explore and understand your own mind.

Plagiarised my reactions, All my life an abstraction, But if I'm more than memories, Makes me wonder, Who I was before.

• More commentary on the unconscious learning of behaviours. As a child you copy the reactions of others when learning how to communicate. LSD undoes this temporarily by dissolution of the ego, leading the writer to realise that he has learned his reactions through mimicry.

I threw away all my armour, Trying to find out, Who I was before.

• More references to the removal of ego in search of new meanings/realizations about yourself