Response to comment(s)

Thank you for your positive response to my previous argument commenter Ian K.
I have also been thinking about the previous comments I received on the previous posts and one said something along the lines of going into the other stanzas which depict different instances of drug abuse. I dont think that going into each of the scenarios will really do much for now.
Each drug scenario is a separate entity in itself, it all relates to a bigger picture so deeply analyzing each of them wouldnt do me much good.
Except for using it to portray the overall disintegration of the singer into his every growing destructive ways and harming others.

Argument #4 the words "slow motion"

Slow Motion
See me let go

The term slow motion means not going at normal speed. Things are slowed down. Slow motion is due to the affects of the drugs that he is using.

one of the drugs he uses is herione, which is a depressant. People's mental function after injecting herione is clouded due to the depression of the central nervous system. The effects are slurred speech and slow movements.

Another is marijuana. Marijuana affects the users judgment, motor coordination and short term memory. The song implies that he uses drugs frequently and frequent marijuana users often have shortened attention spans, decreased energy and ambition and poor judgment.

Cocaine is also used. Now, cocaine is a stimulant that give an immediate high that lasts for a few minutes and causes increased heart and pulse rate and users usually feel nervous or panicky. It isnt the usage of it that is one of the causes of the "slow motion" but the what happens after using it. Afterwards the user feels tired and depressed.

The closest thing I could find to relate to his sister eating paint chips was inhalants. She isnt inhaling them, of course, but either way its paint being put into the body whether through the stomache or the lungs. Abuse of this negatively affects a persons cognition, movement, vision and hearing.

Wino is an alcoholic who is especially addicted to wine. Alcohol is a depressant- it slows the body down making it difficult to think clearly.

He is constantly bombarding his body with all of these drugs that are mainly depressants. And it is making him feel not only slow motion affects while under the influence but afterwards as well. It also gives an insight to his mental stability. A common side affect is suicidal thoughts from each drug. So the next lines "see me let go" is a let go not only from reality into a drug induced state of unconciousness but also from his own sanity.

The words "slow motion" could also be relating to his deference from modern day american values or in other words American culture. In the United States its expected for you to be productive, there shouldnt be time wasted doing useless things. Its expected that you remain busy and doing somthing productive, working towards a future with a good job that pays well and giving yourself and your family some status.

But the author doesnt do those things. Instead he spends time doing all sorts of drugs. He is not in the moving productive lane of society but in the opposite one which is in slow motion. Things arent changing for him as for someone who is working towards something. Out of high school most people leave and go to college and then onward to find a job. He will probably remain in the same town in the same situation.

By him not doing anything productive and wasting his brains on drugs, he is useless to society. Therefore becomes alienated from it because he serves not puropse anymore. His only future is becoming a part of the criminal justice system.

Argument #3 Jokes on You Society

Hollywood glamorized my wrath
I'm the young urban psychopath
I incite murder for your entertainment
'cause I needed the money
what's your excuse?
The jokes on you.

in the first sentence, the author says how his wrath is romanticized by the products of Hollywood, which refers to movies, television shows and advertisements. The third line stating "I incite murder for your entertainment" also is referencing the news. All these are ways in which the audience of the shows, and just people view this lifestyle and influence others behavior.

The author comes straight out and says yes he is a psychopath, which is another way of ultimately justifying his anti-social behavior expressed through violence, drug usage and lack of empathy. He says he did it (shooting the boy at the beginning of the song) because he needed the money. When he asks whats your excuse, its asking why do other people follow through with this behavior that dont have the background he does. That people are really living in this manner and it is being mocked by those who watch the TV shows and think that behavior is awesome or whatever. That doesnt mean that it is okay for him to shoot people because he needs money, but for those who copy that behavior, the jokes on them.

The joke is on them and ultimately society. Because of this glorification of this anti-social behavior, people will commit these crimes and then end up in jail. Society has to pay literally for those people being imprisoned because of the same crimes and acts that they simultaniously plaster all over media sources.

Response to Comment(s)

I will keep the first idea I had which was that his actions are those of a desensitized individual.
When he sees the blood from the girl's nose or the flesh explosion, he thinks about how awesome it looks or what a "beautiful ruby red" the color of the blood is, instead of associating it with pain or death.

There is also enough mentions of media references that I can safely assume is intended to show some media influence on whether it be him or the people that see it.
The phrases used are "Hollywood glamorized my wrath..." and "I encite murder for your entertainment" the last of which is talking about the news.

I can also see how (mis)socialization can also be a factor in the behavior he presents to us. People are taught how to become socialized through their family and the values they learn from behaviors that occur at home. And it's apparent in the song that his home life is one that has and still is heavily influenced by drugs and possible other criminal behaviors.

Argument #2 Audience

The audience for the song is the young adults of the time.
When referencing the drugs that the author sings about he uses the slang words used by kids and other people who either use the drugs or just know about the younger culture and even those adults who are still using (or had used in the past).

Words used:
Pot- marijuana
Blow-Cocaine
Coke-Cocaine
Smack-Heroine
Junkie-Heroine Addict

I never hear elderlies say these types of things so it must be directed toward the younger audience. And even though people into their thirties know what these terms mean, they dont use them in their everyday langauge.

And the type of behavior, a life lead by drugs and crime, is seen as a deviation from societal norms (which is anti-social) and this type of behavior is mainly associated with juvenile delinquency.

He is also making a connection to the younger generation in the third stanza (begins with "And at home..."). Because he is talking about him being at home and he mentions his sister. I think of a family environment which the young people are still closley reminded of even into college because they have closer ties with the family seeing as how they havent "grown up" enough yet and begun their own adult disfunctional lives.

Argument #1: First Stanza- Children to Adulthood

Ms. Jones taught me english, but I think I just shot her son
'Cause he owed me money, with a bullet in the chest you cannot run.
Now he's bleeding in a vacant lot
the one in the summer where we use to smoke pot
I guess I didnt mean it
But man you should have seen it
His flesh explode.

The first stanza is a statement on the progression of modern day children and their transition into teenagers and then into adulthood from influences from common misperseptions of what adults are and do and their desensitization of violence. The words used "Ms. Jones taught me english" reminds the listener of a time when you were in the elementary years. The author is refering to a back in the day scenario because he says "Ms. Jones" and not "Mrs. Jones." Which most women are married before they have children and her child is the one whom the author shot.

The issue addressed is how children change and become influenced by the things they see and think they are supposed to do. And the kids have misperceptions of what adulthood is like or what is the "cool" thing to do to prove your a grown up now. Such as smoking pot in a parking lot or taking issues into your own hands by solving your own problems. The problem is that the author dealt with it in a socially inacceptable way, which is shooting the other person.

The author participates in an act of anti-social behavior. This is due to the desensitization of him at a younger age, which i interpret to be a media influence. He feels nothing for what he had just done because he says "I guess I didnt mean it. But man, you should have seen it, his flesh explode" as if he doesnt even care about what he had done and even finds the situation fascinating and something to be shared with others by saying "you should have seen it." And the sentence after that saying "his flesh explode" would be a gruesome site, but apparantly to him it is not.

The words "...just shot her son." shows there is a more personal link between the author and the people he refers to. It isnt just some random stranger that owes him money, its his teacher's kid. It catches you off guard right away at the direct violence just thrown in right in the first sentence of the song.

INFO

This blog is a student run project to delve into slow motion written by third eye blind and sung by third eye blind. The posts that follow will contain a textual and contextual analysis of the lyrics, the writer’s word choice, how the music emphasizes certain lyrics, and how those lyrics function in the world.

I am particularly interested in seeing what responses, memories and feelings these lyrics evoke in myself as I continue to peel back the layers of meaning. And less interested in interviews given by the artist on the lyrics, although I may include some of those later on in my project

Later, this blog will also feature an analysis of the official music video associated with the song.