Sunspots – By: Carbon Carousel (Eyedea) Dissection for DPchallenge

 

Eyedea is dead. But fortunately, he left a healthy catalog of amazing work for us to enjoy for years to come. I chose this song for the WP writing challenge in an attempt to highlight an artist that is unknown to so many people but made a huge impact on my life. He passed away in 2010 at age 28 but left a catalog of music that started in the world of Indie Hip-Hop and would end in the realm of Indie Rock. At 19 he won the Blaze Battle hosted by KRS-One and ultimately turned down a record contract from Bad Boy choosing instead to stay with Rhymesayers and retain creative control of his art form. None of this is actually relevant to this article but I deemed it necessary to fill in part of his history before delving into the song I have chosen to highlight. It comes from one of the last albums he completed with his band mates from Carbon Carousel before passing away and it moves me in a way that few songs have.

“Sunspots” starts off extremely slow with only the sounds of an acoustic guitar and Eyedeas voice to carry it along and it remains this way almost to the very end when a powerful bass line is added as well as some strings. The tone is that of desperation, anxiety and ultimately hopefulness. The first half  is about his own struggles with substance abuse (heroin). The pain in his voice coupled with the imagery that he paints lyrically is a haunting look into the dark world of one of the most highly addictive drugs known to man. “A little all night don’t make him feel, so he’s gonna have to do the rest”. This line refers to the avalanche of abuse that addiction causes and the snowball effect that it has on users as they build up a tolerance. “My skin is crawling off the walls are falling in again, Hide inside of a nice sized pin prick”. This is a great description of feeling “dope sick” and the urgency that an addict has to relieve the symptoms of withdrawal through further use. “Silent screams, quiet brings, I just hope I get to see the sun”. This is a description of how it feels the second he injects. He seems to have finally found some peace at least at a surface level, but it is instantly followed by a helpless feeling of regret with the acknowledgement that this may be the last night that he will live. Essentially trapped in his lethargic body he wants nothing more than to feel the sun once again but in these final moments of his life he is alone and hopeless.

 

The second verse tells the story of a young soldier killed in combat. I am forced to assume this was a friend of his because of the personal and specific nature of his writing. “You can run but you can’t replace, a family heirloom broke on a strangers floor”. This line resembles the first part of this song in the emotion that it conjures. I’m not sure if the incident happened before or after the friend was killed but the angst that he must have felt from the mistake and the embarrassment of owning up to it must have been hard. Some items that hold sentimental value are truly irreplaceable. “Well here he goes a sheep dog is hunting wolves, In the name of freedom but who is it for?” In this section I believe he is talking of the good nature of his friend and how he wasn’t like the enemy that he was fighting while also questioning the true reasons for war. Ultimately his friend would perish and at the end of the song as the bass kicks in he brings the two tales full circle by drawing parallels in the form of hoping his friend got to see the sun one more time. I feel as if this is a universal idea among humans. In our last moment nothing is more important than the small things that are taken for granted on a daily basis. I can identify with the sentiment and it always takes me back to memories of loved ones on their deathbed, trapped in a sterile environment with no hope of ever feeling the sun warm their faces again. It is a depressing notion but this song embraces the feeling of desperation and comforts me in an odd way.

 

You can hide but you can’t run
As long as you can hold your breath
A little all night don’t make him feel
So he’s gonna have to do the rest
My skin is crawling off the walls are falling in again
Hide inside of a nice sized pin prick
Silent scream, quiet brings
I just hope I get to see the sun

One more time
Before all the fire in every war gets out of control
I choked my first time
Now I’m not coming home

You can run but you can’t replace a family
Heirloom broke on a stranger’s floor
His father said he had a heart as big as the world
Too bad the world he signed up for ships its young off to war
Well here he goes a sheepdog is hunting wolves
In the name of freedom, but who is it for?
The headline’s read
Another young soldier dead
I just hope he got to see the sun

One more time
Before heaven opened up and just swallowed him whole
I just hope he got to see the sun

One more time
Before all the fire in every war it got out of control
A hero in his countries eyes
But he won’t be coming home

 

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/weekly-writing-challenge-music/