The Day I Tried to Live by Soundgarden Lyrics Meaning – Exploring the Depths of Human Existence
Lyrics
Except a voice was in my head
It said seize the day, pull the trigger, drop the blade
And watch the rolling heads
The day I tried to live
I stole a thousand beggar’s change
And gave it to the rich
The day I tried to win
I dangled from the power lines
And let the martyrs stretch yeah
Singing, one more time around
Might do it
One more time around
Might make it
One more time around
Might do it
One more time around
The day I tried to live
Words would you say
Never seem to live up to the ones inside your head
The lives we make
Never seem to ever get us anywhere but dead
The day I tried to live
I wallowed in the blood and mud with all the other pigs
Singing, one more time around
Might do it
One more time around
Might make it
One more time around
Might do it
One more time around
The day I tried to live, live
I tried
I woke the same as any other day you know
I should have stayed in bed
The day I tried to win
I walled in the blood and mud with all the other pigs
And I learned that I was a liar (one more time around)
I learned that I was a liar (one more time around)
I learned that I was a liar (one more time around)
I learned that I was a liar (one more time around)
Singing one more time around
(Might do it)
One more time around
(Might make it)
One more time around
(Might do it)
One more time around (might make it)
The day I tried to live, live
Just like you
Just like you
One more time around
One more time around
Soundgarden’s ‘The Day I Tried to Live’ speaks to the gnawing desire within us to cross the lines of our routine existence, to truly engage with life’s temptations, struggles, and perhaps an inner call for change. It echoes the introspective journey that catches us as we wake, identical to any other being on any other day, yet questions what it means to truly live.
The song, off the 1994 album ‘Superunknown’, carries the existential weight that characterized much of Soundgarden’s work, delving into themes of personal revolution, the hollowness of materialism, and an often overlooked cry for authenticity in a disingenuous world.
One More Time Around: The Sisyphean Quest for Meaning
The track’s repetitive chorus, ‘One more time around’, becomes an anthem for the perpetual struggle to find satisfaction and completeness. Yet, in this quest, we confront the poignant realization that the pursuit itself might be an inescapable loop, a modern-day Sisyphean tale. It’s a revealing glimpse into the human condition, how we circle back to desires and ambitions, hoping they might bring a different result ‘one more time around’.
This pattern echoes through our daily actions, as we often fail to recognize the futility of chasing the ever-elusive ‘more’ that is woven into the fabric of Western culture. The lyrics invite us to ponder whether we are forever doomed to repeat our past, or if there exists a possibility for genuine change and growth.
A Dose of Tragic Irony: Stolen Beggars’ Change and Power Line Dangers
In a world rampant with inequality, ‘I stole a thousand beggar’s change/And gave it to the rich’ turns the lens on society’s skewed distribution of wealth. Soundgarden flips the script of Robin Hood, injecting a sense of bleak irony into the narration. Instead of correcting injustice, the protagonist amplifies it, shedding light on the senselessness of societal norms that celebrate and sustain such imbalances.
Similarly, the act of dangling from power lines underscores the risks one takes in attempting to ascend life’s ladder. The line serves as a metaphor for the precariousness and instability of seeking powerful status, as well as the emptiness of it. The ‘martyrs stretch’ symbolizes those who endure in silence, the unsung and overlooked casualties of personal ambition.
Unseen Forces: What Drives Us Out of Bed?
Marked by the unsettling realization that getting out of bed can be an act of defiance or a yielding to a voice within, Soundgarden touches upon the invisible forces that spur us into action each day. The voice that prompts ‘seize the day, pull the trigger, drop the blade’ starkly contrasts with the morbid comedy of waking life that seems to suggest one should have stayed in bed.
As many grapple with the duality of these drivers—inspiration versus obligation, impetus versus imprudence—the song poses a universal query: What is it that ultimately compels us to face the day, with all its potential for triumph and despair?
Fire and Mud: The Human Struggle Within
‘I wallowed in the blood and mud with all the other pigs’—with this vivid imagery, singer Chris Cornell encapsulates the shared human experience of wrestling with our own nature. There is a brutish, mire-filled struggle in our daily lives, a fight to emerge clean on the other side that seldom earns us more than weariness and self-illusions.
It’s this internal conflict that leads one to the ultimate realization: ‘I learned that I was a liar’. The acknowledgment of self-deception cuts deep—it’s not just about lying to others, but the lies we tell ourselves about who we are and what we are living for. This stark admission is both a capitulation and a first step toward self-honesty.
Chasing Shadows: The Hidden Meaning Behind the Lyricism
Beneath the angst-heavy surface and the apparent escapist themes, ‘The Day I Tried to Live’ holds a mirror up to the listener’s own existential struggles. It’s about the human penchant for self-reflection and the yearning to act upon it, yet ironically highlights our all-too-human failure to change our intrinsic patterns. The song is as much a call to action as it is a somber reflection on inaction.
The lyrics, ‘Words you say never seem to live up to the ones inside your head’, reveal a discrepancy between thought and action, between inherent potential and realized life. By voicing disappointments and dreams, Soundgarden crafts a profound psychological narrative that resonates on multiple levels.
