Straight Up And Down by Brian Jonestown Massacre Lyrics Meaning – The Anthem of Internal Struggle and Liberation
Lyrics
She’s fine with me
‘Cause I’m sick and tired of trying, yeah
‘Cause I’ve made disappointment my very best friend
I wait to see
What you’re going to be and when, yeah
We don’t want you be yourself, you see
We want you to free yourself
We don’t want you to see yourself, ? free
We want you to be ?, I love you
Don’t you try so hard
I never feel like I feel when I’m flying
I don’t care where I’m living or I’m dying, yeah
‘Cause I’ve made disappointment my very best friend
I wait to see you
We’re gonna be ?, yeah
We don’t want you to be yourself, you see
We want you to free yourself
We don’t want you to be ? or free
We want you to ?, I love you
Don’t you try so hard
Cause I know it so well
How I never could tell
Who’s my very best friend
Who I know it so well
I’m your very best friend
Now I know it so well
I could make it in me
Why don’t you be yourself, you see
We like you to be yourself
We don’t want you to be ?
We want you to be you, I love you
But you ? me ?
I spent all the money I had, just to treat you so fine
You know I can get what I want
While I’m getting what’s mine
See you, you don’t know shame
You won’t give me the chance
I’m beggin’ your momma and your daddy just to give me the chance
Ahh, I’m getting nothing
I give everything I got just to treat you real fine<
Know I will give you what I want
While I’m getting what’s mine
I see you, you have no shame
You won’t give me the chance
I’m beggin’ your momma and your daddy just to give me one chance
They’re tellin’ me now
Maybe (maybe)
Maybe (maybe)
Maybe (maybe)
Maybe (maybe)
Maybe, maybe, maybe
Would you give me the chance
‘Cause ?
We don’t want you to be yourself, you see
We want you to free yourself
We don’t want you to see yourself, ?
We want you to ?, I love you
But you ? me ?
We don’t you to be yourself, you see
We want you to free yourself
We don’t want you to beat yourself up ?
We want you to free you
Ooh ooh
In the realm of psych-rock, few bands have captured counterculture disillusionment quite like The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Their track ‘Straight Up And Down’ serves as a rich tapestry of sonic exploration and lyrical introspection, which speaks to the heart of human experience—particularly, the struggles of identity and the longing for freedom.
Diving beyond the mesmerizing grooves and entrancing rhythms that hallmark their style, there lies a deeper meaning to be unfolded. The song’s stirring lyrics beg for a closer look beneath its hypnotic surface, seeking to understand its hidden messages and its portrayal of the universal quest for personal autonomy.
The Dichotomy of Sight: Blindness vs. Clarity
The opening lines of ‘Straight Up And Down’ paint a picture of self-awareness and a relative blindness to the world. As lead singer Anton Newcombe confesses an inability to see, symbolizing a lack of insight, there’s a paradoxical acceptance that permeates the song. He’s ‘fine with it’ because the struggle of trying to see has wearied him—an admission that sometimes we stop seeking truth, numbed by the exhaustive effort of discerning reality from illusion.
This lyrical motif of vision—or lack thereof—can be a deeply resonant concept for listeners. It underscores our own battles to see ourselves clearly amidst the fog of expectations and societal norms, to discern the true nature of our desires against what is merely learned behavior or adaptive mimicry.
Disappointment as a Constant Companion
The poet Baudelaire once spoke of ‘The Devil’s cleverest wile [being] to convince us he does not exist.’ In a similar fashion, Newcombe personifies disappointment as his ‘very best friend.’ The sarcasm drips heavily here, as he crafts a ballad to the inevitability of letdowns, impersonalizing a feeling that is all too often an intimate, haunting presence.
In this, there’s an almost existential resignation to disappointment—a bleak yet oddly comforting companion that never leaves. It’s the demon you know, with every new venture leading to a familiar end. For the singer and, perhaps, for us, there’s solace in knowing that no matter how high we fly or where we end up, disappointment is a familiar landscape within the terrain of experience.
A Call to Shatter The Mirror of Expectation
The mantra that recurs in ‘Straight Up And Down’—’We don’t want you to be yourself, you see. We want you to free yourself’—unravels the conflict between self-identity and the manifestation of one’s truest self. It challenges the facade of being comfortable in our own skin when, in reality, that skin might be a mask forged by external pressures.
Newcombe seems to expose societal hypocrisy. There’s a sense that people preach individuality but only to a certain extent; true liberation, however, is revolutionary. To free oneself is a transformational journey that does not end with mere self-acceptance; it dares to break the mold entirely and to redefine what it means to be oneself.
The Aching Heart of the Song’s Hidden Meaning: Unrequited Existence
Beyond the layers of identity and the pain of constant disappointments, there is an underlying current of unrequited yearning throughout ‘Straight Up And Down.’ There is no explicit lover mentioned, but rather the narrative is a plea for a moment’s chance—an opportunity to prove one’s worth to the unnamed gatekeepers of success or perhaps, happiness.
The repeated begging for a chance from the ‘momma and your daddy’ takes on a symbolic nature; it represents the universal struggle to secure the approval of those who have power over us—a metaphor for fate, society, or the elusive bastions of personal gratification and recognition.
Unforgettable Lines: The Raw Embrace of Submission and Sacrifice
The visceral lines ‘I spent all the money I had just to treat you so fine. You know I can get what I want. While I’m getting what’s mine’ encapsulate the song’s essence of struggle and indulgence, a dichotomy of desperation and entitlement. This is where Newcombe’s lyricism shines, blending the mundane and the sublime in a powerful statement about motivation and self-interest.
These words evoke the image of someone who has invested everything, not just materially but emotionally, into an endeavor, only to confront the harsh reality of unfulfilled expectations. There’s a cyclical sense of chasing a fantasy while clinging to the belief that one deserves to reap the rewards of their efforts—a belief both admirably resilient and tragically doomed.
