Coma (10
minutes 14 Seconds) – Guns N Roses – Use Your Illusion 1 – Song no.16
This post
attempts to describe what sort of thoughts and emotions can go on in one’s mind
because of the traumatic events happening around him and happening against him.
None other than someone like AXL Rose, a rebel, a kinda reflection that i had imbibed, who had undergone such experiences can write this kind of a song and this kind of lyrics could have been conceived only in a trance!
There are the kind of situations when we question the very existence of God due to the agony that we are facing that what we can experience then, when situation goes reality out of control.
Just by being spiritual cannot sort out the matters that much because matter is having too much influence over spirit at this point of me. So, let’s deal with it.
Let’s be material that we are, like removing a thorn through another thorn and get back to spirituality later.
This is all about betrayals, false pride, back-stabbing, mistrust, heart burns etc. dealing in one’s own way without resorting to violence, or disrupting the external world but inflicting everything as a self-torture trying everything to get satiated through the powerful medium of music, plugging the ear holes and facing the music internally and let it to act on the brain cells, the mind and the consciousness to create an effect to cool down without resorting to some one some friend or some external soul to console, because NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING is going to console oneself through external influences in such a situation because no one can understand or has the empathy to console, because of the strong sense of self that only lets one think on everything related to the self and the experience that the self-experiences through the mind using the senses, comparing everything with oneself and undermines the agony that the other person is experiencing.
This is one song aptly titled Coma, that deals with a person experiencing these kind of situations. More apt is the title of the album Use your illusion 1, a part of a double header and an another full fledged album titled Use your illusion 2 that was released simultaneously on the same day – September 17, 1991, when i was in my first year of university education in BITS Pilani, Rajasthan, India, an unpredecented event that has never happened in the history of music and this is unlikely to happen in future for sure!
Tracks such as November Rain, Don’t cry (with an alternative version), this particular track, 14 years, Yesterdays, Breakdown, Locomotive, Estranged, My World and many others to be mentioned. all highly powerful, high octane stuff that surely gives a high everytime the ear gets near to it!
If you is not inclined to spirituality, one may at least listen to these kind of stuff to derive and realise the bitter facts of life and take some gyan out of it to learn from others’ experiences!
You may also check the post Manic Times to get some indication of this fact, how the distortion of what the individual “i” factor unable to align with the supreme “I” factor can lead to an extreme and permanent form of expression of – ILLUSION, Bi-polarity etc.
Just closing the eyes, shutting out everything, plug in the earholes with earplugs and listen with full volume. listen and tell me your experience 😊 You will not find a practical session of “mind blowing experience” better than this! Not something for those sane people who are lovers of Indian classical music though! 😊
This is THE song and according to me no other song ever comes closer to this song in intensity when it comes to describing strong emotions.
I have always wanted to give my interpretations on this masterpiece and I think I have to give it at this point.
“you’ve
caught me in a coma
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”
Probably due to bad experiences through one’s friend or acquaintance or personal tragedies, one in a state of extreme frustration would attempt to take away one’s own life but because nature has provided such a strong defence mechanism, he is so much skeptical that even when this body gets worn out due to old age, still the will to remain alive remains extremely strong as ever like how it was when we were in youth. But having facing agonising experiences that threatens the very way of one’s existence, one part of the thinking process is realising the necessity to go beyond birth, death, disease and old age so as to never be born again!
(Same thing is reflected in Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody as well – “Some times i wish i have never been born at all…carry on…carry on…doesn’t really matter…“
“Mama, just killed a man, Put a gun against his head
Pulled my trigger, now he’s dead
Mama, life had just begun, But now I’ve gone and thrown it all away
Mama, ooh , Didn’t mean to make you cry
If I’m not back again this time tomorrow
Carry on, carry on, As if nothing really matters
Too late, my time has come, Sends shivers down my spine
Body’s aching all the time, Goodbye everybody, I’ve got to go
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth
Mama, ooh, I don’t want to die
I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all…“. )
Isn’t this reality and a real fact in this distorted world???
“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”
Having realised the betrayals and having realised and experienced the cheating propensities in this world, I have learned not to expect anything from anyone or give any expectations to anyone by giving false promises and thus through this understanding my pressure will be relieved. All I need to understand is to listen to the needs of my body consisting of sense organs, organs of actions, mind, intelligence and ego by being more aware of the surroundings by providing proper inputs to my mind through my sense organs so that the intelligence tries to reflect on the reality and the mind properly analyses the things as they are and not swayed by the flowery words of others, including close friends and family members.
“Won’t
you come back to this world again?”
This world is full of bad influences. I couldn’t see any even remote light at the end of a tunnel. This world has become a hopeless place to live and is fit only for nay Sayers and vagabonds who have lost the discrimination to know the very purpose of their living.
What necessity is there to come again and face these worldly experiences again?
When all earthly relationships are tentative, naive, false, temporary and full of only misery, for what purpose should I come to this world and face the music again ?
Rather, i would live in an illusion till then and listen to these kind of music that relates to THE VERY ME.
“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”
Even though I am in between the devil and the deep blue sea, I am in an illusion that I will be sailing in a perfect condition with calm seas, nice breeze, lots of food and drink, a nice captain and a good company to chit chat and wile away all the time!
“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 f*** is going on
Goddamn it”
This is in a work environment/life environment where all work is dumped on a hapless person, providing no proper requirements, giving a hopeless deadline but expecting the work to be done with perfection, doing micro-management to cause frustration through abuse, coming every now and then to monitor and give sarcastic abusive remarks. Friends could be sarcastically described as supervisors or organisation in a typical example of work-place stress.
“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 s***”
Under the above situation, hinting a layoff because of the horrible work environment created where going to work everyday has become a chore or from the sufferer’s side, job-hopping at the earliest opportunity is being contemplated. The whole world, I mean the personal life also get screwed up because of the mental torture at the work place., hence the strong phrase, “in a world that’s full of s***“.
“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
slow motion here (let’s get him in ER)
Going out on us
Who’s got the defibrillator?”
Some desperate measures here being attempted by the employer through a display of false intelligence with the undermining superior authority because of the flickering material prosperity, thinking of diverting the situation by providing some false rehabilitation in the form of cheap freebies, cheap entertainment in the form of cultural extravaganza, free lunch/ice-cream parties, alcohol parties with bollywood songs for dance, sports events, celebrating “days” like women’s day, parents day that are of no real consequence etc. by having a special thinktank to plan these “innovations” according to time and circumstances, to divert the attention from the actual problem to brainwash the enthusiasts.
“Please
understand me”
A desperate plea by the sufferer. Everyone has got their own share of issues and our false ego – strong sense of I and Mine that only projects our own importance and undermines others. In other words, one must have the determination to solve one’s problems through own’s own efforts.
“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?”
Realising that the career and future is getting spoiled because of a bad and uninformed decision without any proper investigations, now standing in an edge do or die situation, earnestly searching and hoping for someone to provide super motivation to lift from this hell by being prepared to listen consciously with all senses to provide some peace and solution to this desperate situation.
“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”
Having found the right mentor and worked hard to enhance his skill, an elusive job opportunity looks in sight with a strong realisation that it is no worth continuing in the present place. The mentor having invoked the sense of detachment is able to realise the influenced of the actual situation, enabling him to come out of the blinding illusion to come out of this situation:
“There’s an unceasing wind that blows through this night
And there’s dust in my eyes, that blinds my sight
And silence that speaks so much louder than words
Of promises broken.” – Pink Floyd – Sorrow – A momentary lapse of reason (aptly titled, of course by who else but the masters of psychedelic music)
“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 b**** again”
Another desperate and penetrating attempt by the employers, this time through more vehement means by giving excruciating torture (this torture varies depending on the innovative torture tactics adopted by various employers according to time and needs and also according to the mental faculties of the hapless individual, but no one is spared for sure by any means) during the notice period to seriously derange the quitting person so much so that the possibility of triggering a suicide situation is not far off!
“Listen to me
Axl, are you listening to me?
No, don’t walk away from me “Get back over here
(‘You are such a f****** p***** I am so p****** with you)
All I hear is BS, all the time
All you ever wanna do is have sex, sex
I just don’t give a s*** anymore”
The final tactics goes to a level of abuse and provocation that is more direct and minding and that directly addresses the individual, more so because of the employer’s brahamastra – similar to the one released by the stupid Aswatthama for extremely selfish means just to salvage his life, though knowing that, that is impermanent – the necessity of relieving letter for any individual to be submitted to the new employer.
It’s the final stage of the strong willed to endure, thanks to the training from the mentor (if one has someone like this by luck or God’s grace) who provides survival tactics to handle these kinds of situations to exit gracefully without losing one’s cool.
Now comes the climax, the amazing non-stop breathtaking vocals for 2+ minutes
“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”
This is the cryptic advice given by the mentor and the reflections from the inner consciousness that wants to tell this bitterly to the employer.
You have to be in a state of numbness like in a comatose situation. Comatose situation is temporary, it’s a temporary slumber, though unpredictable, it has to come to an end. Either way it is good, whether you are happily out of this torturous world or land in a new better situation.
“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”
This is your last chance to endure the last suffering to get out of this hell, though you are fed up of everything. Endure the cold and insipid situation for all more last time and get the hell out of here. this should be you own way ticket never to cast even your shadows here for the rest of your life…
“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”
Even people in your home can’t help your situation because everyone has their own stories and have to live their own life. It’s all self-help.
“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”
You learn to control your mind and senses. People will automatically show you the way out of compulsion. And when you say good bye to them on your last day, on your way out, they will only envy you and wish their day also will come soon! “They be down by the water” implies they would continue remaining on the sinking ship hoping to be rescued by providence, but that’s never going to happen because they are stuck in the whirlpool because of their past deeds, got to experience the same torture, if not more, to come out of the situation.
“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”
After seeing you, they will realising their futility, they will start their planning, they will ask you for references, you will say you guys didn’t see the warning signs but still there is hope, be diligent, if you don’t trust your sincere friend who will help in your dire situations, when he is waiting to help you wholeheartedly, why not make full use of it? You have your own naive sense of false superiority and that is your big hindering block and the unscrupulous elements takes full advantage of it.
“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 s*** to lose
And I wish that I could help you with what you hope to find”
Instead of using social media for worthless ends and waste time and be “easy and laid-back”, why not use it to develop your skill set and find useful associations. When you have the intentions and thirst for knowledge why not utilise the services of those willing tohelp?
“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”
But I am going through a much more traumatic situation, but well aware of what is going to happen to me sooner or later, thinking through previous experiences, sitting on a time bomb under forced circumstances but trying to create an awareness that these are realistic situations that could happen to anyone, asking people not to panic and trying in their own way to earnestly come out of the situation. Realising that only time is a great healer but the wounds are not skin deep but heart deep, trying to forget the experience and erase the memories from the mind in totality.
After all this world is like a sealed bottle of honey and all the time we lick the glass outside thinking that, that is the real pleasure because of our poor understanding of this nature in every aspects of it and our inability to learn from it because of our false sense of superiority and attempting to lord it over it and not realising the fact that it is the nature that lords over us in absolute terms! 😦
Courtesy: https://genius.com/Guns-n-roses-coma-lyrics
Thank you very much for reading this till the end.
Spirituality is the only way to solace 