The two songs are an expression of the singers’ experience of a love gone wrong. The lyrics are graphical expressions of pain, regret and helplessness as both are victims of circumstances that are beyond their control. In both situations, the persona is experiencing the same struggle over and over, and the turmoil seems to persist as their love for their spouses is the primary source of trouble. The two are defeated, and instead of fighting to restore their dignity and happiness, they choose to sit back and live through it all. The difference between the two is that the first perspective is that of a woman in love and the latter is that of a man. Based on the description of the writers of the two songs, it is safe to say that love is a drug.
“Back to Black” By Amy Winehouse
In “Back to black” Amy seems to be dealing with a dark reality. She accuses her lover of leaving without taking any time to consider his partner. “He left no time to regret... Kept his dick wet” indicating that the lover moved on so abruptly and was too distracted by his own circumstances even to consider the impacts of his action to his lover. From this illustration, the lover appears to be selfish and inconsiderate. “You went back to what you knew” indicates that the persona’s partner went back to a life he lived before the relationship, an action that pushes the persona back to using drugs. The two only say goodbye to each other in words but their actions show otherwise. It is also clear that the persona was used to being in the same situation as she states that her “odds are stacked.” The statement also shows that the persona expects her future to be just as bleak as her present. She has been through the same problem probably countless times before. The two were in love, but the love was not enough to overcome their differences “… You love blow, and I love puff”. Blow refers to cocaine which makes its user energetic while puff relates to marijuana which relaxes its user. The contrast between the effects of these two drugs is used to describe the vast difference between the couple. The writer shows that she felt like a penny rolling in a pipe – used to represent life. The act of the penny rolling characterizes the writer’s unstable emotions. The pipe could also be referring to a pipe dream; which is unattainable. The penny rolls up and down the pipe, and this could be a symbol of highs and lows as a result of consuming drugs.
“Like A Friend” By Pulp
In the song “Like a friend” the persona appears to be welcoming a lover who had abandoned him into his home. “Smoke all my cigarettes, again” indicates that the persona had been through the same situation before, with the same lover. The persona is stuck as every time he tries to move on or recover from his addiction. He seems to go no further. The lover is consistent in abandoning the writer as he states that “I’ve done this before… come and kill me, baby... And I’ll come running, just to do it again.” The persona knows that the lover coming back is temporary, but he loves her so much that he is always willing to get back with her. The lover is described as a time waster, as the persona compares her with a cheap magazine he is reading that prevents him from learning something new. The writer regrets meeting his lover that he describes her as the drink he should have avoided as well as s plane that crashes, that he should not have boarded. The persona describes their relationship as a premeditated tragedy. He compares it to a film that is so terrible, but he has to stay watching it to the very end. The dynamics of their friendship are complicated to make sense out of as nothing good can come off it, but he loves her so much he cannot live without her.
In conclusion, it is clear that the two relationships described in the two songs are toxic like drugs. The writers use the characteristics of drugs to describe their relationships with their chosen partners. Like a drug, the high is beautiful, but the consequences are destructive. The two songwriters show the character of addiction, and they have accepted the consequences of their decisions hence they keep using their respective drugs. The lovers described in the songs are selfish individuals who ruin the lives of their partners with their presence. The two lovers described in the songs are also inconsistent which an indication of character flaw is. The blame falls to both genders as the two songs show that it’s not just one societal group that is victimizing the other but rather a situation where mutual destruction is the outcome. Love appears to be that dangerous drug that should be avoided as its side effects are catastrophic.
