If I were an intelligent or sane person I would be sleeping right now, as that is the correct thing to do when it’s already way too late and you have to be up early to go to work… But I figured instead I would do everything but sleep! This has included drinking energy drinks, reading books, learning to play guitar, and now writing blogs as well. Procrastination at its finest!

But yes, this is a blog entry I’ve wanted to make for a little while now, every so often I like to go into detail on a song I’ve done, because hey, why not? Nike Syndrome from my latest endeavor Empty Handed seemed like a good place to start. Why? Well, because it was both well received and well criticized. A lot of people appreciated and enjoyed the concept of that song, as well as the execution. Others thought I was complaining a little too much about the idea of drug use, and to that I say: You could be partially right!

See, one of the great things about music is that it is up to interpretation from the listener. Not everyone is going to take in the same song in the same way, and unless the lyrics are completely black and white people may extrapolate many different meanings from a single song. This is one of the things I love about music, and perhaps it means I should leave well enough alone and not expound on anything, but I think once in awhile a clear definition can be a good thing as well.

So let’s talk about Nike Syndrome, my anti-drug anthem.

That’s the first thing I want to tackle: As much as this song is about me not doing drugs, and don’t get me wrong, that is exactly what this song is about - this is not an anti-drug song. This is first and foremost an anti-peer-pressure song. It’s a do what you want song, even if you want to do drugs. When you really listen to it without the intention of hearing me bashing drugs, you can see that the outline of what I’m saying is “Do what you want, just don’t try to get me to join you if I don’t want to.”

Yes, I chose to take a stance against drugs in this song, saying that I don’t want anything to do with it. That was a big part of it for me, but another thing I tried to make clear was that if you want to do it, that’s your deal. I also never wanted to make it seem as though I was looking down on anyone who chooses to partake - that was never the meaning here. As I clarify in the song, I have my own problems to deal with (“They act like I try to be better, I’ve got vices like any other; I drink carbonated acid and treat music like a lover”), so it’s not like I’m trying to speak from some holier-than-thou position.

Let’s delve deeper into the lyrics.

“Just do it! Do you need a reason?”
I told them I did, my friends called treason (x2)

The hook on this is simple and to the point, that’s exactly how I wanted it. Some people have criticized me for it, saying that it’s either boring or that the rhyme between reason and treason seems forced and like a stretch. While I will agree that this seems like a very forced rhyme, it didn’t come to me in a forced way. I guarantee you that if I wanted to say it in a different way, I could have, but this is honestly just how I desired for this hook to lay out. I don’t mind if you don’t like it, I really dig the simplicity and effectiveness of this hook.

As for the meaning, it’s pretty self-explanatory.The point here sums up everything, it’s not about being anti-drugs, it’s about needing a reason to choose to do the things that I do. Partaking in something just because everyone is doing it, or because there’s nothing better to do are just not good reasons to me, and so no, you’re not convincing me. My favorite was when a friend literally asked me if I needed a reason, and I said I did. Truth be told none of my friends ever really “called treason” on me, they all respect my choices and I’ve never been shunned for being the weirdo who isn’t drinking, so that was more for dramatic song effect, but I know that there are people out there that can relate to being shunned for not participating in the bandwagon, and that’s unfortunate.

Follow the leader, come on, follow the crowd
Stop trying to voice your opinions out loud
Just do it… We’ve got the Nike Syndrome
Drug culture might as well have it’s own holy tome

Yeah, okay, just a little set-up with some fun wordplay on Nike’s slogan “Just do it.” That’s the obvious joke here, it’s “Nike Syndrome” because everyone is doing it and wants you to join in. Why? Who cares!? Just do it.

Many people can see the faults in personalities
Originality lacks in cool crowd mentality
Banality consumes the nature of consumer rationality
Rationing rash in-formalities on technicality

This may seem like a lot of stretching to find rhyming words but it all does actually fit together into a meaning. Really this whole song is pretty straight-forward, but let’s talk about it anyway. Many people can see the faults in personalities, this is in reference to people who feel that they need substances that will alter themselves in order to fit in socially or otherwise to fix what they perceive as problems in their own psyche or personality. This is the reason many people resort to these actions, they can’t be entire comfortable with themselves until they chemically fix themselves - seeing as how I don’t have this problem, it’s irrelevant to me.

Originality lacks in cool crowd mentality is the obvious reference to the fact that if you’re not jumping on the bandwagon with all the “cool kids,” you might as well just be the biggest loser around. This is for those who get shunned for not caving into peer pressure, because mass mentality rules over anything unique, which is unfortunate. This leads right into the line about banality, which is the quality of being devoid of originality, which is consuming everything about drug consumers rational thought or common sense. This leads to a psycho-hyperactive paradigm created where “rash in-formalities,” (Which I guess was sort of a stretch, but hey, it still makes sense) become the custom. In a society where everyone sort of loses their own sense of self as well as their social filters, informalities become the standard by technicality.

Stop trying to do this, start using this and that
Until the owners reset, control, and reformat
Society propriety is built on anti-sobriety
Trying to undermine the guilt and anxiety
But we need them, truth be told, to hold our values in place
Geared up with Nike Syndrome but didn’t train for the race
Faced with the options black and white we don’t want to be left behind
I resigned, defined my life by parameters that were not assigned

More pretty self-explanatory lyrics here, the point I get to about halfway through being that while people seem to resort to certain substances to relieve themselves of either guilt or anxiety, for example, these are basic human emotions that we’re not supposed to ignore and forget about. The very qualities you’re trying to run from are generally the biggest hurdles towards building stronger key elements in yourself, and if you run away from them you’re neglecting yourself the favor of jumping those hurdles now. Then there’s a little more wordplay as I get to the final point, to reiterate, I didn’t feel that any of this was necessary for me, and I defined my life by different parameters than the majority.

We hit another hook, and move along.

The nation is infected; I never thought I’d be dissected
But my presence was detected, they strive to leave me disconnected
It drained down to a personal level, wanted to meddle
Like take a hit of this shit, it’s so legit, but my body is a temple

More straight-forward stuff about how I personally don’t want to take drugs, even if it’s just so legit. This is one thing that always amused me about people trying to get me to smoke, or drink, or whatever it is they were into at the moment. They would try to tempt me by telling me how great this certain thing was, or why it was better than others. Why I just had to try it because holy shit, this alcohol tastes like cake. And if I mix it with something else, it tastes just like vanilla Mountain Dew. Here’s the question I always had: Why should I care? I know what vanilla Mountain Dew tastes like, so it’s not like you’re offering me something that’s going to thrill me. And I don’t like cake, so there’s that. The point is, I don’t care how awsome it is, you can’t upsell something that I don’t want.

Simple to deny smoke, to keep rocks out of my nose
Not to drink any poisons that riddle my brain with holes
And the riddle it goes: Is it worth all the hassle?
They can call me what they want as long as they’re ready to battle

It’s about this point that I can see why people would think this is a preachy anti-drug song, but I assure you it’s only the specific platform I was using in regard to the bigger picture message. Yes, I talk a lot about how I don’t like drugs in this song - personally. And as I say right here in this passage, you can call me what you want as long as you’re ready to battle. As you can tell from this blog so far, I clearly have strong opinions on this subject, and I could keep blogging for awhile just going into where it all comes from, and expound even further on that (I’m trying not to so I can focus on the song and not have this become something else entirely), but that’s not totally the point. Another tactic people have to try to get someone to jump on the bandwagon is flat-out insulting them if they should refuse, but once again, I don’t care. I’m very comfortable with myself (I’m awsome) and if you’re going to insult me because I don’t want to partake, that’s your problem, not mine, and I’ll have a debate or a discussion with anyone who’s up for it. Let’s go.

No problems with their problem, they can do what they like, see
I’m not offended by the syndrome, they can live life by Nike
They act like I try to be better, I’ve got vices like any other
I drink carbonated acid and treat music like a lover

Now here’s the big piece of the picture where I try to say “Hey, this isn’t just drug-bashing, there’s an actual point in here!” I already mentioned above that this isn’t meant to come from a perspective of “I’m better than you because I don’t partake in your drugs,” that’s where the second line comes from - we all have our vices. The first line is even a little more direct, I don’t have a problem with your problem, if you want to jump on the bandwagon that’s your deal. And hey, maybe you’re not even jumping on the bandwagon, maybe you even have reasons for doing what you do, and that’s even more respectable, as long as you know why you’re doing it, and not just following along. Ultimately that’s the point I want to get to here.

It was my choice to remain clean in things unnatural to me
They see me as a threat cause I’m unswayed by powers that be
And to each their own perspective, my perception is clear
As it stands I don’t dictate the way I live by my peers

And then to wrap it up I pretty much say just that, to each their own, as far as I go I want to keep everything I do unhindered and clear in perception. I just don’t dictate the things that I do based on what the people around me are doing, and that’s the way I happen to operate. It’s actually kind of funny because the original closing line in this song when I wrote it back in early 2010 was “Probably not unaffected forever, the infection is near.” I’m not sure why, but I always felt like maybe I would cave in at some point, subconsciously, even though I realized it would still never happen, and once I got over it and realized that was a silly idea I knew I had to change the line to something more appropriate.

So there you have it! An explanation as to why the song Nike Syndrome is less of an anti-drug anthem and more of a do-whatever-the-hell-you-want anthem, as long as you know why you’re doing it.

I could go on, but perhaps it’s time I actually did try to sleep.