Story Behind The Song

I wrote this song out of my recurrent experiences with depression. I played with the central image of the onion skin as a metaphor for the empty feeling of hollowness in that headspace - the feeling that each layer of skin was being peeled away (and the tears associated with peeling the onion!) with nothing to show beneath in the final equation - just emptiness. The positive twist comes at the end of the song. I won't drown this head to avoid the tears - I'd rather live with the sting in my eyes. I ended up dedicating this song to Elliott Smith, such a great musical inspiration whose life ended tragically - his own battle with the demons that drove his creativity may have played a part but no-one can categorically say.

Song Description

See the story behind the song.

Lyrics

Tears as a layer
Of this onion skin is shed,
Closer to the thought
There's no heart to this empty head.
Invisible men with their knives
Discreetly dismember my life's

Tiers as a layer
Of this onion skin is peeled.
Look to find a bulb;
Only darkness will be revealed.
So why am I feeling this way?
Choose rhyme or choose reason today.

If I lose my own muse
Will my blues leave too?
Did I choose the short fuse
That produces songs for you?

Experts in the fine art
Of onion-skinning say
"Drown the thing in water
To wash all the tears away."
Is that where the remedy lies?
I'll live with the sting in my eyes.

If I lose all my blues
Then my muse leaves too,
So I choose the short fuse
That produces songs for you.

So why am I feeling this way?
Choose rhyme as my reason today.

If I lose all my blues
Then my muse leaves too,
So I choose the short fuse
That produces songs for you.