We're bound to wait all night
She's bound to run amok
Invested enough in it anyhow
To each his own
The Garden needs sorting out
She curls her lips on the bow
And I don't know if I'm dead or not
To anyone
Come on and get the minimum
Before you open your eyes
This army has so many heads
To analyze
Come on and get your overdose
Collect it at the borderline
And they want to get up in your head
'Cause they know and so do I
The high road is hard to find
A detour to your new life
Tell all of your friends goodbye
The dawn to end all nights
That's all we hoped it was
A break from the warfare in your home
To each his own
A soldier is bailing out
He curled his lip on the barrel
And I don't know if the dead can talk
To anyone
Come on and get the minimum
Before you open your eyes
This army has so many hands
Are you one of us?
Come on and get your overdose
Collect it at the borderline
And they want to get up in your head
'Cause they know and so do I
The high road is hard to find
Tell all of your friends goodbye
It's too late to change your mind
You let loss be your guide
~ Brian Burton & James Mercer (Broken Bells)
"You are traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind . . . " Either that, or I'm just going to depress the hell out of you with this post.
Oh! You're still here? Okay, then. First question: why did I pick such a weird, depressing song? Basically, because I love James Mercer's voice. Broken Bells is actually James Mercer (of The Shins) and Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse). They joined forces to produce 2009's album of the same name, Broken Bells. I usually love anything Mercer does . . . until I read the lyrics and get confused. Maybe he's just an incomprehensible genius with a gorgeous voice.
I suspect he is an existentialist. A believer in the tenet that we, as individuals, are responsible for the choices we make in life, thereby creating our own destiny. Free will. Freedom of choice. All that philosophical stuff. Those of us who haven't already been too damaged try to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational universe.
Did you watch the video? Surreal, isn't it? Mercer and Burton walk through a deserted landscape in the darkness of night, armed only with flashlights. Among other oddities, they come upon a burlesque dancer, a scary car accident, and a kid with a remote control toy car, which they proceed to steal from him. Are they on "the high road" or on the road to hell? Keeping in mind the (intended) double meaning of "high," it would not be a stretch to interpret the entire song through the lens of drug addiction, a "choice" that we all have. Mercer says, "'The High Road' is a lament. Is this person happy? I'm in hell now. Sometimes you just repeat it over in your head. 'I'm screwed. I'm screwed. I'm screwed.'"
And maybe we all are. That seems to be the collective wisdom these days. To survive, we all self-medicate in one way or another. Anything to make ourselves feel better. Whether your "high" is from drugs or alcohol or adventure or physical exertion or comfort food or consumerism or binge-watching TV, we're all in search of something to mask the pain of living.
I don't know if there is any redemption in the song. It ends with the repeated lines, It's too late to change your mind / You let loss be your guide. I don't even know if letting loss be our guide is a good thing or a bad thing. Do we learn from our mistakes? Or do they just send us deeper into the same hell? Freedom of choice?
I am willing to let this analysis go and just enjoy the uplifting melodic chorus of this song. After all, isn't that what we're supposed to do? Become distracted from the chaos around us by focusing on some shiny distraction? Broken Bells still shine, no matter how discordant their sound.
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