A song about the feelings around a overdose that almost led to death. At first, he is asking the milk thistle herb that has been used to neutralize the toxicity to bring him back. He wants to live. He realizes that he will die some day, but he wants to "go slow" like most people do, dying as part of a natural process, instead of suddenly like that.
He isn't begging for his life because he's scared. Part of him realizes that he must be drawn to death somehow since he overdosed, and yet he's changed his mind. By saying "If I go to heaven I'll be bored as hell", he's saying that he realizes that going to the afterlife may not be the solution. Maybe there will be problems even there. Maybe he will be bored.
On the other hand, he still feels like the world is crowded, and he knows that there is only one way out. He will die someday anyway, no matter what, which is a melancholy kind of thought.
So he thinks of the death process, as described in Near Death Experiences, where he goes through a tunnel toward the light. But he keeps going up and down and feels like he is "nowhere bound." He's ambivalent. He doesn't know if he really wants to go.
The section about Lazarus is also about ambivalence. Some people are highly depressed after being brought back from an NDE experience of the afterlife. They want to go back to the light, because it seems so much better than this world.
When he says, "If you let me slide, I'll do my best to make things right, it''s like he finally realizes that he has some unfinished business in this world. He wants to redeem his life and set things straight before he departs. So he is resolved to live. But the ambivalent feelings about death remain, just the same. Death is still at his heels, and in his mind.
A brilliant song full of depth and raw honesty. Conor Oberst has to rank with the greatest songwriters of all time.
A song about the feelings around a overdose that almost led to death. At first, he is asking the milk thistle herb that has been used to neutralize the toxicity to bring him back. He wants to live. He realizes that he will die some day, but he wants to "go slow" like most people do, dying as part of a natural process, instead of suddenly like that.
He isn't begging for his life because he's scared. Part of him realizes that he must be drawn to death somehow since he overdosed, and yet he's changed his mind. By saying "If I go to heaven I'll be bored as hell", he's saying that he realizes that going to the afterlife may not be the solution. Maybe there will be problems even there. Maybe he will be bored.
On the other hand, he still feels like the world is crowded, and he knows that there is only one way out. He will die someday anyway, no matter what, which is a melancholy kind of thought.
So he thinks of the death process, as described in Near Death Experiences, where he goes through a tunnel toward the light. But he keeps going up and down and feels like he is "nowhere bound." He's ambivalent. He doesn't know if he really wants to go.
The section about Lazarus is also about ambivalence. Some people are highly depressed after being brought back from an NDE experience of the afterlife. They want to go back to the light, because it seems so much better than this world.
When he says, "If you let me slide, I'll do my best to make things right, it''s like he finally realizes that he has some unfinished business in this world. He wants to redeem his life and set things straight before he departs. So he is resolved to live. But the ambivalent feelings about death remain, just the same. Death is still at his heels, and in his mind.
A brilliant song full of depth and raw honesty. Conor Oberst has to rank with the greatest songwriters of all time.