Hi hi hi my incredible Hoot readers!!!! I’m back for a quick little article. I really should be studying for my upcoming exams, but who doesn’t give into their self-destructive tendencies from time to time? Actually, that’s what this article is about. I got this idea because I really like Heroin …
THE SONG!!!!!!!!!!!! BY THE VELVET UNDERGROUND!!!! FROM 1967!!!!
I was listening to “Heroin” by The Velvet Underground and it dawned on me just how romantic self-destruction (NOT SELF-HARM OR SUICIDE!!!!!!!!) can truly be. Lou Reed (frontman and lyricist) presents to the listener someone that is truly lost and disillusioned with the world, whose only refuge of happiness is shooting up heroin and edging closer to death. The increasingly chaotic guitar, drums and strings take you on a journey with the subject as he escapes this miserable reality for heroin-induced euphoria.
However, the song is not an endorsement of drug use. Heroin doesn’t solve his misery; it only numbs the pain and threatens his life. It makes him feel like he’s “a man,” “like Jesus’ son” and “away from the big city, where a man cannot be free.” It’s a momentary and self-consciously destructive escape. He states rather blatantly that it’s an attempt to “nullify” his life and is happy to be “good as dead.” These lyrics combine to make the song very morally ambiguous in regard to drugs.
I may love “Heroin,” but I’ve never used drugs. Yet this song resonates with me a lot and I’m guessing with many other non-drug users. Why? I just don’t know, but I’ll give it a shot. I personally appreciate the repetition of the line “I just don’t know,” juxtaposed with a profoundly self-destructive action. When life starts to seem hazy, uncertain or bleak, I find it easy to fall into self-destructive tendencies. This song romanticizes those tendencies and the distracting rush they provide me. I’d prefer not to list them here, but I can assure you one of them is writing my most impulsive thoughts in my favorite newspaper, The Brandeis Hoot (thanks for the platform guys!)
Despite the song’s ambiguous messaging, Reed captures the allure of self-destruction perfectly. It may be a harmful escape from life’s troubles and uncertainties, but it’s still an escape. Why confront the scary challenges of the present and future when you could construct your own problems? Especially, as in this case, when they actually bring you pleasure? In a sense, self-destructive tendencies are a way of asserting control over your life. They’re empowering!
Plus, even when life is good, it’s hard not to mess things up. Complacency and over-cautiousness both lead to ruin. Doesn’t matter if you’re lost or secure, it will get worse at some point. Bad things still happen to the best and brightest of us. So you might as well ruin your life on your own terms. Just make sure you have fun while doing it! I’m gonna go try to do my homework before I do though. Maybe you should too? I guess I just don’t know.
Concluding Note: Thank you for attending this written therapy session and thought experiment. TED, if you’re looking for motivational speakers, I’m right here! Seriously though, I think it’s important to dig deep and really understand why certain art resonates with us. Our impulsive thoughts may not be healthy or correct, but they should be understood. Also, if you find yourself in this self-destructive mindset, talking to others helps. Lean on your support base, whoever they may be. They don’t want to see you self-destruct and neither do I. And I swear I don’t do drugs. Alright, bye.
