I think that for any given song, there is at least one person who interprets it as being about drug addiction. "Love Will Keep Us Together", "Girls Just Want To Have Fun", "My Heart Will Go On" ... they're all really about addiction, people!
But seriously: I think this song is about more than drugs; I think it's about (for want of a better word) "sin". It's about any temptation that a person may give in to:
"Said no way
But knew I'd try some day"
And the guilt
"Sad but true
It still won't wash away"
and depression
"I got a sieve inside me
A pit inside me
I got a nowhere point of view"
and self-destruction
"My ambition fell and hit the ground"
and self-loathing
"Take another piece
Take it out on me"
that results from being weak. Drug addiction certainly fits in there, but so does cheating on one's spouse, betraying a friend, gambling away the money in your kid's college fund. Even murder: I suspect that an unfortunate number of people out there have said "I may do some pretty bad stuff, but I'll never kill another person" and then one day ... oops.
Also, I have to comment on the music behind these lyrics: I cannot offhand think of another song by anyone that has this kind of in-your-face animal rawness. This song is coming from a person who has fucked up so badly that they've lost their soul.
I think that for any given song, there is at least one person who interprets it as being about drug addiction. "Love Will Keep Us Together", "Girls Just Want To Have Fun", "My Heart Will Go On" ... they're all really about addiction, people!
But seriously: I think this song is about more than drugs; I think it's about (for want of a better word) "sin". It's about any temptation that a person may give in to:
"Said no way But knew I'd try some day"
And the guilt
"Sad but true It still won't wash away"
and depression
"I got a sieve inside me A pit inside me I got a nowhere point of view"
and self-destruction
"My ambition fell and hit the ground"
and self-loathing
"Take another piece Take it out on me"
that results from being weak. Drug addiction certainly fits in there, but so does cheating on one's spouse, betraying a friend, gambling away the money in your kid's college fund. Even murder: I suspect that an unfortunate number of people out there have said "I may do some pretty bad stuff, but I'll never kill another person" and then one day ... oops.
Also, I have to comment on the music behind these lyrics: I cannot offhand think of another song by anyone that has this kind of in-your-face animal rawness. This song is coming from a person who has fucked up so badly that they've lost their soul.
All IMHO, of course!