Coma by Guns N’ Roses Lyrics Meaning – Unraveling Axl Rose’s Psyche in an Epic Ballad of Despair and Redemption
Lyrics
And I don’t think I wanna
Ever come back to this
World again
Kinda like it in a coma
‘Cause no one’s ever gonna
Oh make me come back to this
World again
Now, I feel as if I’m floating away
I can’t feel all the pressure, and I like it this way
But my body’s calling
My body’s calling
Won’t you come back to this world again?
Suspended deep in a sea of black
I’ve got the light at the end, I’ve got the bones on the mast
Well, I’ve gone sailing
I’ve gone sailing
I could leave so easily
My friends are calling back to me, I said, they’re
They’re leavin’ it all up to me
When all I needed was clarity, and
Someone to tell me what the fuck is going on
Goddamn it
Slipping farther and farther away
It’s a miracle how long we can stay
In a world our minds created
In a world that’s full of shit
(Help me)
Okay, let’s get this guy in the program please, we’re losing him (start an IV Please)
Come on, his airways someone’s got to protect his airways I want two
Where’s the defibrillator?
Two IV’s over here please, that’s two more now, we’re losing him (let’s go) (help me)
Okay, respond, we’re losing this guy (help me)
Where’s the, where’s the crash- what’s going on? anyways, in protective two IV’s
(Bastard) slow motion here (let’s get him in ER)
Going out on us
Who’s got the defibrillator?
Please understand me
I’m climbing through the wreckage of all my twisted dreams
But this cheap investigation just can’t stifle all my screams
And I’m waiting at the crossroads, waiting for you
Waiting for you
Where are you?
No one’s going to bother me anymore
No one’s going to mess with my head no more
I can’t understand what all the fightin’s for
But it’s so nice here, down off the shore
I wish you could see this, ’cause there’s nothing to see
It’s peaceful here and it’s fine with me
Not like the world where I used to live
I never really wanted to live
Ah
Okay, we’re starting to lose this guy
I want that IV and his airway protected (let’s get some people in here)
Get the crash cart please, we’re losing this guy, he’s going under (give me an airway please)
Clear
Zap him again
How about an IV, stat?
Okay you better protect the airway, you’re starting to lose him (clear)
Zap the son of a bitch again
Listen to me
Axl, are you listening to me?
No, don’t walk away from me “Get back over here
(‘You are such a fucking prick, I am so pissed with you)
All I hear is bullshit, all the time
All you ever wanna do is have sex, sex sex
I just don’t give a shit anymore
(I love you)
You live your life like it’s a coma
Won’t you tell me why we’d wanna?
With all the reasons you give, it’s
It’s kinda hard to believe
But who am I to tell you that I’ve seen
Any reason why you should stay?
Maybe we’d be better off without you, anyway
You got a one way ticket, on your last chance ride
Got a one way ticket to your suicide
Got a one way ticket, and there’s no way out alive
An’ all this crass communication that has left you in the cold
Isn’t much for consolation when you feel so weak and old
But if home is where the heart is, then there’s stories to be told
No, you don’t need a doctor, no one else can heal your soul
Got your mind in submission, got your life on the line
But nobody pulled the trigger, they just stepped aside
They be down by the water
While you watch ’em waving goodbye
They be calling in the morning, they be hanging on the phone
They be waiting for an answer, but you know nobody’s home
When the bell’s stopped ringing
It was nobody’s fault, but your own
There were always ample warnings
There were always subtle signs
And you would have seen it coming
But we gave you too much time
And when you said that no one’s listening
Why’d your best friend drop a dime?
Sometimes, we get so tired of waiting for a way to spend our time
An’ it’s so easy to be social
It’s so easy to be cool
Yeah, it’s easy to be hungry, when you ain’t got shit to lose
And I wish that I could help you with what you hope to find
But I’m still out here, waiting
Watching reruns of my life
When you reach the point of breaking
Know it’s gonna take some time
To heal the broken memories
That another man would need just to survive
Within the raucous pantheon of Guns N’ Roses, lies a track often overshadowed by its more radio-friendly brethren. ‘Coma,’ the near-10-minute epic from their 1991 album ‘Use Your Illusion I,’ is a journey through the darkest recesses of Axl Rose’s consciousness—a cathartic narrative that wields symbolisms of death, existentialism, and an ultimate quest for purpose.
To merely label ‘Coma’ as a song would be an injustice to the palpable rawness that encapsulates Rose’s harrowing confessional. Interlaced within the sprawling instrumentation is a poetic, internal battle laden with doses of angst and enlightenment that listeners can’t help but grapple with.
Probing the Comatose State: Metaphor for Societal Disconnection
The titular ‘coma’ serves as a metaphorical lucid dream from which Rose expresses no desire to awaken. It’s a sanctuary away from worldly pressures, a place where his voice can echo unanswered without the confines of societal judgments. This anesthesia, both psychological and emotional, offers a pure reflection on his aversion to a world that’s corrupted and devoid of sincerity.
The imagery of ‘floating away’ and being ‘suspended deep in a sea of black’ paints an ethereal soundscape of isolation. The ‘sea of black,’ an abyss of his own making, becomes an emblem of the distances he has put between himself and the grime of the tangible world. It’s an inner sanctum where the chaos of celebrity and personal battles with the band dissipate into the void.
The Outcry of the Soul: Deciphering the Song’s Hidden Meaning
Beyond its surface narrative, ‘Coma’ delves into Rose’s internal dialogue, bordering on an existential crisis. The shouting in the background frames moments of resuscitation—not just literally as in saving a life, but symbolically breathing life back into a soul desperate to escape its own disdain. It’s an analogy to Rose’s own reawakening, a dramatic revival of the self that can only be channeled through a purging of inner demons.
We find ourselves voyeurs to Rose’s vulnerable reckoning with mortality. The song confronts the listener with the delicate balance between life and death, posing the looming question of what it means to truly live. Rather than a glorification of nihilism, ‘Coma’ becomes a stark reminder of our capacity for resurrection, no matter how far gone the spirit seems.
Memorable Lines and the Echoes of Desperation
‘When all I needed was clarity, and someone to tell me what the fuck is going on, Goddamn it.’ This visceral cry for understanding amidst the cacophony of life’s tribulations epitomizes the song’s essence—the desperate search for a lifeline in a world that seems to be perpetually capsizing.
The refrain, ‘Please understand me,’ pleads for empathy, an acknowledgment of Rose’s struggles beyond the mask of fame. It’s a sentiment many can resonate with, that yearning to be seen, truly seen, and not just as another note in society’s grand symphony.
A Descent into Chaos: Analysing the Cataclysmic Breakdown
Throughout the song, Axl’s vocals careen between fervor and vulnerability, mirroring the unpredictable throes of a mind on the brink. The cacophonous interlude filled with anxiety-laden shouts, medical commands, and haunting recollections underscores a breaking point—a crisis where the persona tumbles into a chasm between life’s tumult and the seductive peace of numbness.
The guitar solos in ‘Coma’ are not mere intermissions; they’re the melodic embodiment of conflict, symbolizing the turmoil and eventual struggle towards personal liberation. Each crescendo and diminuendo captures the uphill battle against the gravity of despair, sonically charting the journey from darkness back to the faintest glimmer of light.
The Search for Redemption in a ‘World Full of Shit’
‘It’s a miracle how long we can stay in a world our minds created,’ suggests Rose. The realization that our internal worlds are often constructs—mazes of our making—evokes a sense of empowerment amidst surrender. It’s through facing these harsh truths that ‘Coma’ implicitly instills hope for redemption despite the self-imposed exile within the psyche.
‘Coma’ might initially read as a surrender to darkness, but its conclusion is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. By peeling back the layers of disillusionment, the song proffers a path to reclaim life’s reins, even in the face of overwhelming odds. For Rose, and perhaps for us all, continual rebirth is the defiant response to a call for oblivion.
