Lyrics
You dealt with a tricky thing You didn’t know what kind of world your brain had become Your mind is an evil twin I didn’t know, I was away, your world was numb
And I didn’t know at the time I thought I’d left it all behind But in reality, this world, kept on going
You are the morphine in my veins The one that takes away the pain You gave a friend a right to stay and find a reason You are the light when skies are grey The kind that does it all again You gave a friend another fight when I was beaten
I came out of a sad state I didn’t know where all my memories had gone You continued to be great You grabbed my arm and pulled until it nearly fell off
And I didn’t know how to say You’ve brought the light back to the days You’re the one who makes the world keep on turning
And I want to thank you I’ll never repay you But we know the status quo Keeps going strong, as long as you Bring morphine to my veins You’re a love and light machine
Background
Morphine was nearly a track on my first album. It carries on from the idea of grief and being helped back into reality. The irony is that sometimes the friends who help you back are also going through some horrible things.
It’s a thank you letter to a close group of friends. It celebrates them and acknowledges what happens.
I started writing this song wanting it to sound like Tellison. At times it comes close.
It’s also my first time recording in standard tuning since before I can remember. I wasn’t comfortable in anything other than drop D, and the song was originally written like this. I realised it had no need to be in drop D, given it was a simple harmony in G major. I practised with this “new” tuning and it settled in well.
When recording in standard tuning on my Telecaster, it sounded like a country song which I did not like. I put a bit more distortion on the virtual amps and tried to regain that Tellison post-rock sound.
Morphine took far too long to write. I think I settled on the song a year before it was finished. I had trouble teasing out the bridge and the prechorus. But we got there!
