Third Eye Blind Upbeat Tempo

What initially draws almost any person to listen to a song? The beat of the song sets the tempo, and the tempo portrays many emotions to the audience. Slow beats usually display a damaging or dejected connotation; whereas, an upbeat tempo depicts an equally cheerful and composed nature of sensations. Third Eye Blind’s 1997 hit, “Semi- Charmed Life”, appeals to audiences due to the positive melody played throughout the entire song. Beneath the catchy upbeat melody, the song contains dark lyrics about a drug user's descent into an addiction to crystal meth and sexual activities; the lyrics paint a bleak picture of the life and problems that come with drug addiction. However, the single still became a major hit that is widely popular to this day.
There was an effort to disguise the meaning of the song, as the words "crystal meth" are frequently censored on radio stations, or distorted out of recognition. The beat draws people in while the lyrics keep the audience entertained, and repetitive phrases constructs a memorable association to the song.
The catchy upbeat tempo captivates the audience with the combination of drums, guitar, and piano; this creates an optimistic harmony that fills the listener’s heart with excitement. A lively tempo with upbeat rhythm produces a sound that enables the audience to experience amusement, exhilaration, and enjoy the music in a reminiscent mindset of personal euphoria. Stephan Jenkin’s low-key pitched vocals correspond to the liveliness of the song’s tempo to a perfect balance where the possibility to acquire an energized persona without either overpowering the other. The unique collaboration of instrumentals modifies the song’s implication to a blissful association with drug abuse. The melody of the song produces an elated perception; the obscure adventure within the lyrics counteracts the melody.
Although the upbeat tempo is unforgettable, the lyrics to Third Eye Blind’s hit-single, “Semi-Charmed Life”, shares explicit references to sex and drugs; to the casual listener these exploitations are cleverly masked by Stephan Jenkins' rapidly spoken word delivery.
The song may open with seemingly harmless phrases but by examining the first verse one will notice an instant association to drugs; the opening lyrics “I'm packed and I'm holding, I'm smiling. She's living, she's golden, she lives for me” clearly sets the stage of a dealer supplied with drugs, and the buyer is pleased by this as she is considering to obtain more. The lyrics continue as “ She comes 'round and she goes down on me” confessing to the audience that to receive the drugs, she exploits herself to the dealer sexually. The story line of the lyrics continues to the dealer and buyer actually preparing to consume the drugs themselves; this depiction is brought upon by the lyrics “Chop another line like a coda with a curse”. The lyrics later go on to actually point out the exact name of the drug they are abusing by “Doing crystal meth will lift you up until you break”. “And then I bumped up, I took the hit that I was given, then I bumped again, then I bumped again” shows that the dealer clearly exercised the convenience of the drug numerous times. The story line continues to speak of their lives and struggles of drug
abuse. Many people are simply naive to drug culture and do not understand the references associated; for example, the term "bump" is a reference to a small line of cocaine, but casual listeners may not associate this term to the song when there is a positive upbeat tempo present. The line, “The sky it was gold, it was rose, I was taking sips of it through my nose”, seems harmless, but actually this is a reference to the color of the cocaine they also were abusing to receive a better high than they would with the crystal meth, and the way to consume this drug was commonly through the nose; Later in the song While abusing these drugs one may sense numerous negative effects. The negative effects are portrayed constantly through this song; for instance, “She’s got her jaws now, locked down in a smile” is similar to the effect of lock jaw that comes from drug abuse. Likewise, the casual drug use brings on an aggressive behavior by the consumer, which is associated in the song by “On the urge to feel alive… those little red panties, they pass the test, slide up around the belly, face down on the mattress”; this implies that aggressive sex was the result of an attempt to utilize the energy that developed after consistent drug abuse. The consumer admits that the side effects of the drugs scare him, but he is physically addicted and cannot stop ,“Still it's all that I want to do, just a little now feel myself with a head made of the ground, I'm scared but I'm not coming down”. He actually ends up experiencing an emotional meltdown, “I believe in the faith that grows, And the four right chords can make me cry, When I'm with you I feel like I could die. And that would be all right”; he is subsequently exhausted by the continuing cycle of emotions that come with drug abuse that he does not find death to be an incommodious burden. With the abundance of depressing lyrics, one may wonder as to how the song became so widely popular; although the lyrics are sang at a rate to which the audience may have a complicated time understanding, the chorus and repetitive phrases pulls the audience to remember the catchy tune.
Repetition can be very effective in a song; repetition can create a sense of energy in a piece of writing. By emphasizing certain words or phrases in a description, the audience becomes engaged; this allows them to experience the thrilling energy that the character may be facing, or in this instance the audience may feel the energy of drug abuse through the combination of an upbeat tempo and dejected lyrics. The hit-single begins and ends the same way, with words that have no significance pertaining to the actual song; the lyrics “Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo” are repeated numerous times throughout the beginning, end, and as part of the chorus. Although these words do not pertain to the message of the song, they generate a pleasant association to the song for the audience. The only other phrase commonly repeated with these jumbled words with no meaning is, “I want something else to get me through this Semi-charmed kind of life, I want something else, I'm not listening when you say, Good-bye”; while these words obtain the ability to draw the audience in, the casual listeners are clueless as to their significance to the lyrics. Some may believe that this song has some irony to wanting more out of life; even though this statement is true to an extent, the words actually connect to a frequent drug user who desperately desires to cease the abuse, but when he begins to come down from his “high” he relapses into the same pattern of abuse. Constant repetition of words that appear to have little or no meaning allows the song to resemble a catchy tune with memorable phrases that are amusing to sing.
When examining the components of “Semi-Charmed Life” individually, the audience becomes relatively disordered; one does not expect the upbeat tempo with catchy phrases to combine adequately with the melancholy lyrics. This song touches base with behaviors that are frowned upon in the real-world, but a majority of listeners pay no mind to story behind the chorus because the chorus along with the melody is recognizable. Lyrics do not weigh heavily in the audience’s judgment because Jenkins’ vocalizes the verses at such a hasty rate. The final result is a cleverly written song with dark lyrics about drug induced behavior, crystal meth addiction, sexual thrills and finding "something else" to get through the repetitiveness of life; that is the “semi-charmed” kind of life.