“Comfortably Numb” – Pink Floyd

Call me old school, but I was not a fan of Rock Music until I came across the masterpiece, “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd. I always hated the moody bass parts of Rock Music and considered the heavy music as a headache. Just like a 100 years old grandma, I did embrace the soft melodies created by pianos and violins appreciating classical music. But Pink Floyd took me to a whole new world to experience new sensations in the world of music. It doesn’t really matter whether the song is rock or pop or classical, as long as it touches us and makes us feel alive. Let’s forget about the mind-blowing guitar solos and hallucinatory wonderful rock and pop mixed music and move into what this song really means.

What makes “Comfortably Numb” so special is that how a song which conveys a great deal of lack of feelings and a moony nature, has created so much emotion all over the world. Some say that this song relates to drugs and some say it doesn’t. Irrelevant to visuals or the history of this song, I honestly think that the whole song is a conversation between a pinch of drugs on the table and a man.

Hello, is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me
Is there anyone home?
Come on, now, I hear you’re feeling down
Well I can ease your pain
And get you on your feet again
Relax, I’ll need some information first
Just the basic facts
Can you show me where it hurts?

There lies a man on a chair. Completely out of the world, unable to function. The drugs on the table converse with the afflicted person as if a medical doctor, creating a bond, and makes sure that the stabbing pain can be eased. The drugs asking the man to nod is a reference to dozing off when high.  I find this part truly wonderful. Need not be a drug addict to understand this mesmerizing part. Whenever we get a bit of pain somewhere, isn’t this the exact way how the Aspirin box calls us?

There comes a time when we find our personal problems unsolvable. Sometimes if they cannot be shared with anybody else, we just want the suffering to end at least for a short period of time. No matter how much wrong it is, one may take a dull witted decision to embrace the loving calls of a precious antidote, narcotics.

There is no pain you are receding.
A distant ship smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying.
When I was a child I had a fever
My hands felt just like two balloons.
Now I’ve got that feeling once again
I can’t explain, you would not understand
This is not how I am.
I have become comfortably numb.

The man is completely bewildered but he goes on answering the non-living pinch of drugs. The man explains that he is not in pain but at peace. He admires the numbness he is feeling. The man sees the world as a distant dull place. In his very own perspective, everything seems like a distant ship’s smoke on the horizon. He recalls a childhood illness which made him feel numb but he claims that this is not the normal man as he is. He used to be just a normal man until he started building a wall around him distancing from the whole world. Comfortably Numb refers to his current emotional state. His loneliness has now been transferred to a numbness.

Ok, just a little pinprick.
There’ll be no more…aaaaaaaaah!
But you may feel a little sick.
Can you stand up?
I do believe it’s working, good.
That’ll keep you going through the show
Come on it’s time to go.

The drugs assure that everything will be alright with a little injection. The needle pricking being the pain. As the drugs themselves suggests, the power of the injected drugs will allow him to adjust to the upcoming show of facing society, life, family, and relationships. The repetition of the words I have become comfortably numb shows the great extent of strong feelings of the afflicted.

The entire song shows a great deal of imaginary power and symbolism. I can picture a sick man medicating his own self while conversing with the drugs on the table while having flashbacks to the childhood. But honestly, this song is an eye-opener to most of us. Isn’t this our very own story for the most part? How happy were we when we were kids? Through the journey towards adulthood how we have become numb to life’s miseries and heartaches. Our innocence which remained as kids is no more.

This may or may not be a song about drug addiction. But it is surely about feelings and emotions and the pain that exists in one’s life. The journey of how one reaches emotional immunity and how well one detaches from everything as a defense mechanism to save themself, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Dear Readers, Be strong than your strongest excuse. Wish you a lifetime of happiness devoid of any insalubrious fanaticism.

By Rtr. Shaini Wimalakeerthi

Image Credits:

• https://bit.ly/3eLNxwd
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• https://bit.ly/3e9JE5a