Musical journey (177)

I've written a lot of songs these few years about drug use knowing full well that to many, there's a fine control line between "recreation" and "abuse". My definition of "abuse" is a level of consumption needed for one to simply function normally. We also know that the more easily available the drug of choice, the more unclear this line becomes. Case in point—alcohol.

 

Alcohol is the drug that kills the most people globally and continues to kill every second. There aren't many drugs in the world that hardcore addicts can't go "cold turkey" on their road to recovery or else they will die, and these are opiods (heroin, fentanyl), benzodiazepine (Valium, Xanax) and yes, alcohol. And we're not even talking about the most addictive drug in the world—nicotine (which has gotten worse with vaping, not better).

 

Talking about addiction, governments are hooked on the tax revenue from alcohol, and coupled with it being synonymous with social recreation, the problems associated with this drug become impossible to eradicate. Hence, we've evolved over eons to see deaths caused by or related to alcohol consumption as inevitable, much like how upholders of the American Second Amendment view deaths from mass shootings.

 

Now, is that cavalier perspective on the harm caused by alcohol right or wrong? And should your answer to that question change when we switch the drug to one that causes less deaths i.e. any of the so-called "hard drugs" e.g. methamphetamine, cocaine, etc.? Life is never black and white and so we don't need to wear tinted glasses to add more colour to this world (there's a Chinese saying "戴有色眼镜" which literally translates to "wearing tinted glasses" and it means "to have a prejudiced viewpoint").

This month's musical journey is all about drowning one's sorrows with alcohol. I often wonder does that even work? I know drugs deepen the state of mind one is in at the point of intake, so wouldn't you feel sadder when you're already down before you start drinking? Nevertheless, people do it all the time despite alcohol being a depressant because humans are irrational beings.

 

Interestingly, although we're all aware that "driving under the influence" is bad, we seldom think about "drinking under the influence". This new composition with a rock/metal theme (a genre I only dabble in occasionally) explores the very concept of drinking your problems away which I'm certain is something you or someone you know have done, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic, after listening to the song of course.

[D. U. I.]

Written By: Kim

This is not what I deserve
But that's not stopping you
So go on, do your worst

Shake me off, I'm just like dirt
You don't relent
And I know that
But I refuse to learn

Push me, I crack
'Cos your strength I lack
It doesn't take much to see tears gush
Right out of a man

The weaker I get
Your mind gets more set
I get lost at the exit door
Why can't I catch a breath

Got nowhere to turn
And so I'm back here
Drinking under influence

You have got to earn
The right to be here
There's a three-heartbreak at the minimum

Like a numbing heartburn
Memories linger here
They go down only to return

Pictures of us I preserve
Can't let go, they haunt me
Lock me in a curse

To heal, you need to first be hurt
Then I'd be spent
So here I drench away the bitterness

I must be mad
When I play pretend
That I ain't crushed
That I can last
Right until the end

Panic attacks
But don't let me hit back
That line I've crossed
Made you change your course
It's too late to regret

Got nowhere to turn
And so I'm back here
Drinking under influence

You have got to earn
The right to be here
There's a three-heartbreak at the minimum

Like a numbing heartburn
Memories linger here
They go down only to return

Hit me with affliction
I need this addiction
Give me pain unreserved
Quench my fucking thirst

Got nowhere to turn
And so I'm back here
Drinking under influence

You have got to earn
The right to be here
There's a three-heartbreak at the minimum

Like a numbing heartburn
Memories linger here
Please go down
And never to return