It's about AA/NA. Think about it.
The first verse is just about the relationship between artistic temperament and addictive personality. You're not dependent on drugs to be creative, your mind's not a well, you don't have to tap into it.
"Don't call me by my full name." Hello, my name is ____ and I'm an addict.
"all this is temporary / it feels much better to know / you won't feel a thing." He's talking about the cycle of numbness, boredom, and despair of addiction and recovery, and the careful callousness of rehab workers, sponsors, etc (a deserved and learned callousness, honestly, if you think about the people they deal with)
"well don't talk about it / write it down" Step 4 is a moral inventory with a section about "my part."
"but don't ask for help." NA stresses that they're a support group while paradoxically leaving it up to you and your relationship with a higher power.
"just lasting this long, I feel relieved." "accomplishments are transient." 1 day chip, 30 day chip, 90 day chip, etc etc
"let repetition save me" The serenity prayer, the beginning of the meetings, the many sayings (many of which rhyme or have some trick of rhetoric to them)
"move one inch at a time" One day at a time, one step at a time, etc etc
The song is about struggling with addiction and seeing this one thing as the solution, but being stuck inside of it is frustrating and you see people so thoroughly brainwashed in it that you just know they're going to fuck themselves over. The medicine becomes poison. The difference is the dose.
It's about AA/NA. Think about it. The first verse is just about the relationship between artistic temperament and addictive personality. You're not dependent on drugs to be creative, your mind's not a well, you don't have to tap into it.
"Don't call me by my full name." Hello, my name is ____ and I'm an addict. "all this is temporary / it feels much better to know / you won't feel a thing." He's talking about the cycle of numbness, boredom, and despair of addiction and recovery, and the careful callousness of rehab workers, sponsors, etc (a deserved and learned callousness, honestly, if you think about the people they deal with) "well don't talk about it / write it down" Step 4 is a moral inventory with a section about "my part." "but don't ask for help." NA stresses that they're a support group while paradoxically leaving it up to you and your relationship with a higher power. "just lasting this long, I feel relieved." "accomplishments are transient." 1 day chip, 30 day chip, 90 day chip, etc etc "let repetition save me" The serenity prayer, the beginning of the meetings, the many sayings (many of which rhyme or have some trick of rhetoric to them) "move one inch at a time" One day at a time, one step at a time, etc etc
The song is about struggling with addiction and seeing this one thing as the solution, but being stuck inside of it is frustrating and you see people so thoroughly brainwashed in it that you just know they're going to fuck themselves over. The medicine becomes poison. The difference is the dose.