This is not a line about masochism. As I said before, I think the song is about the narrator looking back on his life. I think he hurt himself by doing so.
I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing thats real
The needle tears a hole
I think that the narrator did not actually cut himself or hurt himself, but is opening up the song with showing us, through symbolism, that it is hurting him to look back. He also mentions that "the needle tears a hole" which I think is an interesting thing to use to hurt yourself. Rather than a knife, the narrator mentions a needle. I always think of a needle as something that goes to your veins or something that brings things together by sewing them. The narrator's life is running through his veins, and yet he is also attached (sewn) to it. He continues to say:
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything
I think these lines add to my needle theory, that his life has been a familiar sting. I think he is saying that as he looks back he feels his life's old sting. He tries to stop, but he remembers "everything".
5 comments:
Do you think by saying needle he is trying to say it is a small pain?
I think that the needle reference is to shooting heroin, and the song is related to drug use. I think this because the singer says "I hurt myself today to see if I still feel I focus on the pain the only things thats real" He says this as if he had not felt pain in a while, and use of heavy drugs keep you from feeling pain. Then "the needle tears a hole" this is where he uses the drug. I get this because he says "try to kill it all away" as if he where using the drug to kill the pain. Also I think the line "but I remember everything" helps support this claim, because though he can't feel the physical pain he remembers it. which while on drugs he might not feel physical pain but would still feel emotional pain.
"The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything"
So I agree with all said, but number one is that all art is in the eye of the beholder.
Needles make some people twitch to think of (the pain of just the needle entering the skin), they are used to kill off disease and microbes. Also used to numb and give local anesthetics.
"familiar sting"- may refer figuratively to the pain of choosing the wrong pains, hurting others, lying to oneself or others seems (painful); or may literally refer to the sting of using a needle for AIDs, diabetes, or as stated before- heroin seems the most likely actuality of where the lyrics originated.
Maybe or maybe not meant to represent many things.
I also agree that by using the word "needle" it is directly referencing drug use.
I also agree that the reference to the needle is referring to heroin.
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