The Psychology Behind Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd Lyrics - reaction & analysis / Dissociation
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- Опубліковано 31 тра 2024
- A Psychological Lyrical Analysis of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb through the lens of Dissociation:
Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd was released on their eleventh studio album, The Wall (1979). The music was composed by guitarist, David Gilmour, while the lyrics were written by bassist, Roger Waters. In this video, we dive deep into the lyrics of Pink Floyd's iconic track "Comfortably Numb," offering two interpretations: the traditional interpretation in which Pink, the protagonist of The Wall, is medicated by the doctor before a concert to get him to go on stage despite his condition. This interpretation explores themes of isolation, disconnection, and the pressure to perform despite inner turmoil and the second interpretation through a psychological lens: in which the lyrics resonate with the experiences of dissociation, derealization, and depersonalization, often linked to trauma.
It analyzes how the song portrays:
Fragmentation and emotional detachment
Sensory disruption and altered perception
Lost memories and emotional disconnection from the past
Using numbness as a coping mechanism
The psychological lens adds depth and resonates with those who have experienced dissociation and the music itself amplifies the emotions and isolation expressed in the brilliant lyrics. Subscribe for more Rock Psychology and Pink Floyd Reactions and Psychological deep dives.
Nena Lavonne is a Psych Professional, musician, and rock & metal enthusiast who enjoys examining her favorite songs and artists through a philosophical and psychological lens. Subscribe for more Rock Psychology!
#pinkfloyd #thewall #comfortably numb #rogerwaters #davidgilmour #musicpsychology #rockmusic #metalmusic #femalemusician - Розваги
![Didn't expect that 🎸to bring me to TEARS 😭| Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb (Pulse Concert) [REACTION]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QWslibUABM8/mqdefault.jpg)
I'd love to hear any additional thoughts on the song - it is truly a masterpiece. What song would you like to see analyzed next? Please take a moment to like and subscribe if you haven't!
Nena
The doors , saying that, it's because they have been this week's, music of choice for me 🙏😎🙏🤘🔥
Great suggestion 😊🤘🏻
I’d love to hear your thoughts on The Warning’s album, Queen of the Murder Scene. I think it has a lot of themes about psychological struggle and could connect to certain personality disorders like BPD. Amazing video btw!
I definitely plan to address the whole album - it is a masterpiece!
@@psychologyofrock oh wow, I’m super excited! 🤩
Another undisputed video, thankyou Nina 🙏😎🙏
Glad you enjoyed, Mikey! 😊🤘🏻
@@psychologyofrock absolutely 🙏😎🙏🤘🤘🔥
😊
Another amazing video Nena! I find it fascinating how much psychology can be taught through music. Keep making quality content 😊
Yes, I completely agree! There are almost no songs that I can’t find at least some psychological connection to :-) so glad you enjoyed the video, my friend! 😊🤘🏻
My son was hospitalized with Kawasaki’s disease when he was 5. Symptoms are unexplainable fever, rash, and swollen hands and feet. David Gilmore had this same condition as a child. Some say the lyrics “When I was a child, I had a fever. My hands felt just like two balloons” come from his experience with Kawasaki’s. Just a little tidbit of info some may not know.
Thank you so much for sharing!
It was Roger who had that experience as a child, not David.
As I got older I started paying more attention to PF's lyrics. It's very complex yet relatable, we can venture a lot of aspects in the writing composition; these guys were on another level when it comes to music. Comfortably Numb is a masterpiece, both lyrically and instrumentally. David Gilmour's solo also speaks for itself, one of the most beautiful I've ever listened to. 🎶❤️
I agree completely. The song has layers upon layers of depth! I did not become a PF fan until later in life, so I'm still discovering some of their masterpieces! :)
Thank you for the great analysis and different perspective on the song !
So glad you enjoyed it! :)
@@psychologyofrock 🙃
Brilliant as always.
Having spent time in the music business during the early part my career, I can tell you that Comfortably Numb is holding up a mirror to what so many entertainers go through.
Fans fail to understand how quickly burnout sets in for a touring artist. So much is demanded of them until they just start shutting down. Their defense mechanisms start manifesting in many ways, and it's typically a very personal manifestation based on their own experiences.
Dissasociation is very common as they find that they are suddenly thrust into a life they weren't prepared for. The illusive "record deal" is the brass ring they have been working towards without fully knowing everything that goes with it. They simply aren't prepared physically or mentally for the whirlwind they are about to be thrown into.
The music business doesn't necessarily attract addicts, it creates them. Drugs and alcohol become the coping mechanism, and they are always surrounded with label personnel who are more than happy to accommodate. This is the playbook for creating slaves who will simply do what their told by those profiting most from their continued spiral.
Isolation is another tactic used by label execs. Creating tension among band members and then swooping in to say all the right things to "ease that tension" is their stock in trade.
It is a horrible, sick and twisted business and I am so happy to have lived to see the "Biz" on the verge of complete collapse. Artists finally ha e tbe tools to take complete control of their own road map and work at a pace that doesn't destroy them in the process.
I've always seen Pink as the amalgamation of Arists and how the music industry slowly steals everything that made them human and individuals. It turns them into products to be sold in volume for maximum profit. The human being be damned.
Thank you for sharing. It is incredibly sad what so many entertainers have been through. Hopefully things will continue to change. I appreciate your perspective!
@psychologyofrock Thankfully, there are artists like Tom McDonald out there who have literally knocked the record industry on its collective ass by doing everything independently.
I'm not a fan of Rap music, but I have a huge amount of respect for Tom and Nova for having multiple #1 hits without the aid of any labels.
There are also bands like Liliac and Halocene, just to name a couple, who are thumbing their noses at the Satanic record industry. That industry is an empire that should have fallen a long time ago.
I'm a big fan of Liliac - glad to see them continuing their journey :) I need to listen to more Holocene!
You nailed it. To the point that you had me shedding a couple of tears. Many male boomers (not that we're the only ones) grew up in a day where having certain emotions was just not cool, so we repressed them. Combine that with some other childhood issues that I won't go into, and I can only say that I was extremely lucky to find the psychologist I found when all of that emotional repression finally came home to roost. The first few weeks of my treatment was learning to recognize that I was even having emotions and what they were. If only we had more training as a child to see ourselves more clearly. Maybe kids do now? I hope so.
Hey Kevin! I'm so glad that you enjoyed it. I agree completely about previous generations being taught to suppress their emotions. I do think this is beginning to change. I appreciate you watching! :)
One of my favourite songs, and one of the most important albums to me growing up in the 90s when it was already a very old album.
I agree with your analysis. Roger Waters has said that it's a very specific song, referring to its place in the album and getting Pink "going through the show". Of course Pink's transformation is pretty horrific (plenty of potential for misunderstanding if you listen to In the Flesh, or Waiting for the Worms, in company). But to me it's clear that the lyrics to Comfortably Numb have a much wider applicability, and at the age of about 13 I already identified strongly with them.
Agree completely and I think it's one of the most important and impressive albums ever composed. I saw the movie as a child and was terrified of it, lol. I was an adult, however, when I became a fan and really understood the brilliance behind it.
Pink Floyd and TOOL have many songs with similar subject matter. In Parabola, Maynard says, “We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion.” I feel like this would be TOOL’s response to Comfortably Numb.
Great observation! Yes!
Another great analysis of an outstanding song. The Wall is a classic concept album. Well written and performed by a band at its apex.
Don't think I wasn't impressed by your choice of shirt.
So glad you enjoyed, Ken! And, lol, one of my favorite shirts for sure :)
Isn't this where... Roger Waters' quote, explaining Wish You Were Here, applies?
Can you free yourself enough to be able to experience the reality of life as it goes on before you and with you, and as you go on as a part of it or not. Because if you can't, you stand on square one -- until you die. That's what the song's about. All the songs are encouraging me, I guess I write them for me, and it's to encourage myself not to accept a lead role in a cage: to go on demanding of my self that I keep auditioning for the walk on part in the war, because that's where I want to be. I want to be in the trenches. I don't want to be at headquarters or I don't want to be sitting in a hotel somewhere. I want to be engaged in a way my father would approve of.
The antithesis of this is the character, Pink. He is the one who chooses to sit in a hotel somewhere. So consider this. The whole album is not a running account of Pink's life rather it is a loosely connected series of past experiences inside the head of the main character that attempts, internally, to justify his isolation. But each time Pink gets comfortably numb in his isolation, his mind dredges up the past experience of being awakened to meet his performance demands. But now its Pink's mind refusing to be imprisoned that betrays his tranquility and the doctor's shot effectively looses the mind on that flight of depraved fantasy that ultimately collapses on itself. At which point his his mind goes back to the beginning. And so it plays over and over, the same thing to the same conclusion trapped in his isolation and then, ...we came in?
Great commentary on a true masterpiece! I enjoyed reading your thoughts 😊🤘🏻
burnt meself 0ut 0n fl0yd in high sk00lz s0 eye cant listen t0 any anym0re.
🤘😬🤘
multiple levels t0 a0t 0f dare music f0 sh0!!
😘👌
😊🤘🏻
@@psychologyofrock
🥰
You’re onto something, to be sure, but I think you’re overanalyzing it.
Tortured a childhood Waters experienced, there is still childhood values experienced: joy, empathy, fairness, but most of all, happiness.
For EVERYONE, these values start to diminish as our childhood wanes and we are exposed to the “real world”, adulthood and all the issues that come with.
While Waters plays the “doctor” for the purpose of storytelling, the true message is found when Gilmour sings, particularly the second chorus.
“There is no pain” (don’t feel bad, we old grow older and the light dims, so do our hopes and dreams)
“When I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse” (presumably a glimpse of happiness and joy)
This reflection culminates with
“The child has grown, the dream is gone”
And the acceptance of adulthood, and the loss of innocence….
“I have become comfortably numb”
It is absolutely heart wrenching when you consider that we all go through this phase…and become “old”….
This song Is a perfect commentary that should have been part of the story of life “The Dark Side Of The Moon”
You may want to reflect on this…and then listen to Rush’s “Losing It”….
Not exactly the same, but a similar theme of “the dying of the light”
Good video. Keep ‘em coming.
Great thoughts! I appreciate your input 😊🤘🏻