I have been meaning to write some things about the voids of existence that emerge. The pain. The realization that comes and goes and comes back again that we are but tiny specks of consciousness in an infinite universe of nothingness and chaos.
"Champagne for the pain"
The first time I heard this was Jay Z or Kanye West? Perhaps earlier but most prominently in a song that does not immediately pop into my head from their Watch the Throne album (which I am a huge fan). Jay Z: "Champagne for the pain... High for the low."
I lived by those words for a long time. With what I know now they have the potential to be a bit damaging and misleading at least for me. Basically, just writing a disclaimer on that advice that there are usually better, more healthy, more sustainable ways to heal "the pain" than drugs and alcohol.
Fastforward:
I actually went back and found the song:
"Welcome to the Jungle"
...
[Jay-Z]
"My uncle died, my daddy did too
Paralyzed by the pain, I can barely move
My nephew gone, my heart is torn
Sometimes I look to the sky, ask why I was born
My faith in God, every day is hard
Every night is worse, that's why I pray so hard
[Kanye West]
Why I pray so hard, this is crazy God
Just when I thought I had everything, I lost it all
So que sera', get a case of Syrah
Let it chase the pain, before it goes too far
[Jay-Z]
My dreams is big, reality set in
Let off a clip from an automatic weapon
Through shots in the door, it died in Vegas
Though it fought so hard, I knew it wouldn't make it
I'm a tortured soul, I live in disguise
Rest in peace to the leader of the Jackson 5
I dided in my sleep, I'm still Big Pimpin'
I ball at the mall, beginning of the ending
Where the fuck is the sun? It's been a while
Momma, look at ya son, what happened to my smile?
My tears is tatted, my rag in my pocket
I'm just looking for love, I know somebody got it
[bold]Champagne for the pain, weed for the low[/bold]
Goddamn I'm so high, where the fuck did I go
etc.
I found it interesting on going back and listening to it my perception now is that Jay is actually speaking his truth on the fact that drugs and alcohol do not actually fill any voids or actually heal any pain and was just plainly speaking on where he was at at some lower points.
Putting my own spin on it that is where I am at. Champagne for the pain, weed for the low are occupations. They are a way to fill time and avoid pain but a lot of the time it is just delaying healing and development. Drugs and alcohol are simply occupations, drugs, medications with positives and negatives that should be used with personal best discretion. Buyer beware. etc.
Going back to Jay for a second though I am just a really huge fan. He talks about how his music is a Rorschach test. My original interpretation of the line in times where I abused alcohol and drugs it is easy to get caught up in the boastful, bravado, glamourous nature of the Watch the Throne album and glorify the champagne for the pain, weed for the low, YOLO nature of that album and pop culture in general but of course, Jay laces it with entendres and 2, 3, 4 sides to the story.
I would put his Reasonable Doubt and Blueprint Album up there with any existential poetry, literature, philosophy works in existence.
Earlier in that album on the first track Kanye finishes the song with:
When we die the money we can't keep
But we probably spend it all cause the pain ain't cheap: preach
I would take it a step further in saying time and freedom is a more important asset than money but money is certainly up there and can buy time and freedom.
So, how do we spend our time, freedom, and money?
How do we fill the void and heal the pains of the world?
People have been asking these questions and searching for answers for years. I will just say that for me being part of a group, a community, a tribe and sharing my thoughts and learning from other people and engaging in discussion seems to work for me so that is one of the reasons I continue to post on LP. Thank You.
ps.
I will leave everyone with some quotes that I recently came across and found thought provoking and inspiring.
"All neurosis stems from mans' attempt to escape life's legitimate sufferings." - Carl Jung
"(one lost everything in the death camps except) the last of the human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances" - Viktor Frankl (Austrian Holocaust survivor and psychologist)
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Silver_nz New Zealand. Dec 13 2014 18:40. Posts 5647
iono dude. i think drugs are great. why would anyone choose to be sober? we all do things to distract us from how unsatisfying life can be. how pointless/meaningless it is. how repetitive it is. i used to work 50-60 hours a week and think it fit me really well because i didn't enjoy free time. cause when i had free time i would just think and get depressed about life.
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traxamillion United States. Dec 14 2014 00:27. Posts 10468
I used to be a full blown drug addict. Didn't really have a problem with it other than the expense and the fact I wanted some other things in life like another long term girl and family and kids. So I only smoke weed now and drink with friends on the weekends etc. normal stuff but I got no problem with what anyone does and even did a couple key bumps of some blow due to peer pressure like two weeks ago
On December 13 2014 20:25 mnj wrote:
iono dude. i think drugs are great. why would anyone choose to be sober? we all do things to distract us from how unsatisfying life can be. how pointless/meaningless it is. how repetitive it is. i used to work 50-60 hours a week and think it fit me really well because i didn't enjoy free time. cause when i had free time i would just think and get depressed about life.
Drugs are great in general. Not for everyone though. Filling the void with work is better than others but it is not something to just plan on: more like if one enjoys occupation and being a part of a collective greater than ones' self that is fantastic occupation but I have found that blindly working for goals that I assume will make me happy or more so that the images, stories, messages that the capitalists and advertisers are bombarding me with tend to be false promises and sugared water. Ubiquitous assimilation, double think and so forth.
I think it always comes back to helping people especially ones' own groups, tribes, and collectives. Meaningful relationships within these spheres and some novelty thrown in. Living for goodness, truth, a power greater than ones' self rather than simply filling ones' belly. I think we all know this more or less but it always baffles me how easy it is to forget. This does not mean I am above giving the guy who cut me off a dirty look, losing my temper, or anything like that. Heck, I have even prayed before. Why does anyone say "no 9! no 9! no 9!" "hold! one time" "oh my god... jesus!" "please no traffic, please no traffic" etc. as an athiest/agnostic but almost everyone I have ever known still does it. Yeah, suicide is one solution to all of this but it is so terribly final and quite scary. Most positions can be improved upon or at least there can be enough hope and transcendence to overcome.
On December 15 2014 03:43 Baalim wrote:
taking philosophy from Kanye West and Jay Z? srsly?
Yes. Srsly.
Yeah, a lot of their songs are bling, bling, guns, drugs, alcohol, girls, pussy, money, power, my raps are better than yours, boasting, bragging, bravado but a lot of it can also be quite deep and introspective, truthful, funny, etc.
Not for everyone. I can not see you ever getting into it whatsoever but I like it.
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United States. Dec 13 2014 18:10. Posts 8881
