[Verse 1: J. Loren Wince]
First things first- the protagonist directly starts with the topic of drug abuse and explains at the same time very clearly why he needed to take it.
He indicates that he needed to feel something not even he himself can define. He also describes his loneliness as boredom while his mind circles wildly around the promises his past lover gave him but did not keep.
The boredom returns as his loneliness and brokenness grows deeper and hurts more and more- which leads to the only thing to do in his universe: taking more drugs
[Verse 2]
In the part between Verse 1 and 2 the melody gets a little more tense, as though something definitely is about to happen- but it abruptly fades away and leads on to Verse 2. It starts with the same kind of darkness and helplessness as Verse 1 except this time the focus lies in the realization of things he is not sure are happening in reality or in his imagination. Also he craves for some fun, for anything that can save him for the probably never ending loneliness and emptiness and darkness within.
And all this explodes with the last word stretched to a long aggressive intonation where you can lmost feel the hatred and wrath, the disappointment and the loss of confidence in life itself, let alone the one who hurt him the most.
[Chorus 1]
Inbetween the second Verse and the chorus there is an instrumental part. This indicates more than impressive who fast feelings can change- from hopelessness and a sincere wish to feel something or anything, to a vulcano mixed with poisoness hatred against what had happened to him and why everyone lets him down. He even challenges a God to show himself and moreso give him something so that he would not lose his faith.
In a sense it also seems that he provokes him with the mocking sentence “Don’t you ever try to bring me back”. From the way it is sung as he almost cries this last sentence out, it is possible that he not only challenges this God but also prays to a sign that he will get through this, that there is somekind of hope for him to survive and have a life again, one day, even though he has no hope left at the moment.
But the fact that he is alone is probably the one fact that really disturbes him and brings him to his knees.
[Verse 3]
Verse 3 starts almost in a rush, as though now he took enough drugs- he is able to feel again, he is able to stand up and hate and scream and let everything out at once. This rush seems very realistic because he needs to get all of this off his chest as soon as possible, depending on the duration of the drugs power to set his feelings free.
Lyrically he repeats Verse 2, but as Verse 3 is so intense in the build up with violins dangerous in the back as though something is about to jump out of a dark corner to hurt him again, it is worthy to differentiate it from Verse 2.
[Verse 4]
The transition between verse 3 and Verse 4 is filled with the same urgence, the same dangerous violins as above mentioned- however by the time this verse closes his voice changes.
As sung in this verse he most likely takes even more drugs- lightened up by the new possibilities of feeling again, of being able to cry out and be angry and see and live and smell again…
So with this in mind and the voice by the end of this verse you nearly can feel that something is about to happen. His voice settles down, he calms himself down, from the midst of his aching body he gets a feeling and he does not yet know if it is good or bad- this part is extremely intense with the musical part. When know everyone has connected with the melody and is familiar with the tensity as a subliminal throughout the song until know.
[Chorus 2 ]
After repeating Verse 3 and 4 one last time he cannot take it anymore and the vulcano explodes. Finally all he had held in comes out. He is able to give in to the overwhelming emotions he had held in for so long. He repeats the Chorus 1 lyrically but emotinally and from the musical intention it is widely different to Chorus 1. As the sound and various instruments grew louder in the back his voice takes on a very desperate intonation- in addition to that you can almost feel the heart beginning to pond louder and the urge to get out of this misery is nearly unbearable. And then finally, most likely while the drugs are clearing out, he gets calm, he focuses and it seems that the ache also steps aside for a new feeling. The ending of the song is very humble in a way- after crying out his pain he is again able to see the bigger picture. It is not very optimistic yet but clearly he may see through the pain into a new possibility where his life might go- but there is a future. One could also see a detailed description of drug abuse, a sort of overview how this particular drug works and how it influences your mind and body.
[Overall Story] Singing, from the beginning of the song until the end, with a voice of pure disruption it is made very clear how broken this man must have felt in the particular time when he wrote the lyrics. Few other songs ever transported pain and disruption the way he does. Assuming that this was the artists real life when he wrote the song it starts with a inner twist between doing something else than feeling pain from the rejection of his ex-Lover (it is not clear whether or not they were together at all) and getting out of this crisis even though he has no power whatsoever to achieve the Goal of a break-out of his brokenness. He describes how the thoughts and pain circle in a sort of broken recordplayer around his assumption of his ex lovers real feelings, the way he misses her and the situation he is in now. He only can feel something when he takes drugs (not mentioned which type of drug but assuming from the state of Depression and capacity to only feel when taken the song could indicate to Morphine). Also he calls out to the God of Dreams “Morpheus” – blaming him to have let him alone. This shows that the pain and drug addiction obviously has reached a point where he has sleeping Problems and sees no more sense, meaning or appreciation of his life without the one he loves. As the song reaches its end his anger and wrath and aggression does show- he screams at the whole world, Morpheus and his past Lover. One might also see a little self defence in it as he explains that he has got a reason to take drugs{when he is alone}, live his life the way he needs to do or even taking this life to a close for himself. Supposedly he will not commit suicide but is close to the edge as he was hurt so bad by his past Lover.
[Instrumentation /Sound] The song as a full masterpiece is increasing from second to second. His voice is so gentle, so broken in one moment and then filled with fury and hatred but still all the time the remarkable voice the singer has is stable and set and modest. The way he transports emotions, pictures and even whole stories through his voice alone is rarely heard. Voice alone would not have an impact like that if there was no instruments. Arrangements, intensity and the choice of musical instruments is perfection. They carry not only the feelings and a story, they give us a notion of all the things felt and seen and cried on that the lyric alone would not be able to tell. As in every head we do normally not have one thought at a time, we think more than two, three things in co-existence in our head. Some might even be able to feel something, talk to someone and think of somthing else while a whole other story is visualizing in front of their eyes.. So with the instrumentalization in this song it feels the exact same way: You hear the story, you hear the pain and can almost feel the weak body and weak mind grasping everything that might save you from this hollow you are in BUT at the same time you get an inside view on how our brain works with feelings in the back, rushing through, coming back, another emotion coming through but this time tailing off gently getting louder again in the next second. The orchestra suits perfectly for this kind of emotional interpretation, for everything else you can feel and be and remember from times of great pain and weakness. There is more to the story than the story.
{Historical Content} “Vol.I” was released 2006 as the third album of the US band “Hurt”. It reached peak position 175 in The Billboard 200 and position 7 in The Billboard Top Heatseekers list. This album contains three other songs which have been released: Rapture, released 2006, Singlecharts 17 Falls Apart, released 2006, Singlecharts 16 Danse Russe {no further charts position}
