This song reminds me of my brother who was schizophrenic. He passed away a couple of years ago, but I watched him suffer with this illness for 5 years and it tore me apart. This song came out before he died, so I let him listen to it one day and tried to explain it to him (the way I understand it) because to me, this song gives hope for people with schizophrenia.
The first verse, in my opinion, is most of the battle:
"Are you afraid...
afraid of the truth
in the mirror staring back at you?"
What I hear him talking about is the fear of facing the truth about being schizophrenic. Nobody wants to admit to having a mental illness or being out of control.
"The image is cracked
but so is the view here"
... this is another way of describing how your perception is distorted. You're looking at yourself with this illness seeing something or someone you don't recognize, but at the same time, seeing yourself from eyes that don't see things clearly.
"And the strength of a tree
begins in the roots
that I tend to bury into you.
Atleast now the storm can't blow me away"
This line is so powerful to me. It's as if he's surrendering to the disease & giving these voices control, letting them make his decisions, instead of fighting it... It can't get much worse than that; nothing can shake up his world any more than it already is.
The chorus makes me think of the loneliness. I know my brother felt like nobody believed him or understood him most of the time. If only he could show somebody what went on in his head, he wouldn't be so alone. ... and the feeling of blame for his own mind making his life a living hell.
The second verse sounds like he's decided to fight back with the voices in his head... pretty self-explanatory...as is the rest of the song.
It breaks my heart to know that I never was able to help my brother, but I just hold to my belief that he is at peace now.
By the way, Aaron Lewis is AMAZING!! My favorite artist by far...and a really cool person from what I have seen at his concerts.
This song reminds me of my brother who was schizophrenic. He passed away a couple of years ago, but I watched him suffer with this illness for 5 years and it tore me apart. This song came out before he died, so I let him listen to it one day and tried to explain it to him (the way I understand it) because to me, this song gives hope for people with schizophrenia.
The first verse, in my opinion, is most of the battle:
"Are you afraid... afraid of the truth in the mirror staring back at you?" What I hear him talking about is the fear of facing the truth about being schizophrenic. Nobody wants to admit to having a mental illness or being out of control.
"The image is cracked but so is the view here" ... this is another way of describing how your perception is distorted. You're looking at yourself with this illness seeing something or someone you don't recognize, but at the same time, seeing yourself from eyes that don't see things clearly.
"And the strength of a tree begins in the roots that I tend to bury into you. Atleast now the storm can't blow me away" This line is so powerful to me. It's as if he's surrendering to the disease & giving these voices control, letting them make his decisions, instead of fighting it... It can't get much worse than that; nothing can shake up his world any more than it already is.
The chorus makes me think of the loneliness. I know my brother felt like nobody believed him or understood him most of the time. If only he could show somebody what went on in his head, he wouldn't be so alone. ... and the feeling of blame for his own mind making his life a living hell.
The second verse sounds like he's decided to fight back with the voices in his head... pretty self-explanatory...as is the rest of the song.
It breaks my heart to know that I never was able to help my brother, but I just hold to my belief that he is at peace now.
By the way, Aaron Lewis is AMAZING!! My favorite artist by far...and a really cool person from what I have seen at his concerts.