Marcy Playground – Opium

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  My Opinion:Is it me, or does this song end too early? i wish it was like 7 minutes long...:( makes me appreciate it that much more..

  Flag AICNISTP247on November 07, 2011   Link

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    If most 7 minute songs are 3-4 minutes too long then you dont listen to good music.:)

    Flag AICNISTP247on November 08, 2011  
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  My Opinion:Anyone who thinks this song is about anything other than Opium, has never had or been addicted to Opium. The words and melody conjure up the exact feeling that Opium gives. That warm, blue, lazy alright feeling. No matter what is going on in your life...if Opium is inside your brain, everything feels like a gentle blue heaven. Like floating in cool water...The line "I'm just gagging on all the alright" reminds me of one of the first times I had tea made from Opium poppy pods. It made me gag and throw up, but it wasn't like how you usually feel when something is making you sick. It wasn't that miserable, OMG I'm going to die feeling. No. I was bending over the toilet gagging, but I was smiling...relaxed....alright. Just gagging on all the all right.
  
  It might sound like I'm glorifying Opium and it is glorious, for a while. Especially if you have the type of disposition that's always depressed or anxious...but make no mistake, for all the good it does, it takes payment out 10 fold. Any bit of joy, happiness, relaxation you get from this drug, will be met by depression, fear and pain when you withdraw and even before withdrawal comes tolerance....when you need more and more of the stuff to get only a fraction of the feeling you did when you first started...and eventually it doesnt make you feel good anymore, but you still need it to keep from getting sick.
  That's Opium...Its like God's love and mercy combined with the Devil's revenge, all in one small plant.

  Flag Sonne911on June 27, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:Im going to get a lot of disagreements from this interpretation but this is how I see it. The narrator is depressed, but he is in denial and pretends to be happy.
  
  Blue like water
  Blue like heaven is
  all of the time
  [Heaven is the place of eternal happiness]
  
  I'm all right
  I'm just gagging on all the all right
  I'm so happy
  So happy
  I'm in heaven
  Yeah heaven
  [Pretending to be happy and being in such denial]
  
  Oh the season's come for opium
  [Opium is generally planted in fall. And the plant grows during winter. Winter=time of most depression/suicide rate]
  
  Mom...mom
  Mom...mom
  I'm so happy
  So happy
  [He's telling his mom he's happy even though is depressed]
  
  I'm in heaven
  Yeah heaven
  [Once again denial and heaven being eternal happiness]
  
  Oh the season's come for opium
  [Winter once again]
  
  This is how I see it at least. Maybe its because I too am depressed.

  Flag JlovesBon August 23, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:One of my favourits by Marcy Playground .. just takes you to a different world ..

  Flag MissJosephineon July 19, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:Having been addicted to opiates, I can stongly identify with this song. The lines "I'm so happy" is almost a joke, the drug tricks you into thinking you are happy. "I'm all right" For me this means when someone asks if you are okay, you are alright. "I'm just gagging on all the alright" Gagging is a side effect of the drug, which could be what he meant. "I'm in heaven" also sarcastic, this drug really blurs all reality. heaven is a palce where there is no cares, when you are on this drug you really don't care about anything.
  
  "Oh the seizures come from opium" (it really does say seasons and for, but in the lyric book this is printed, i think it's another bit of sarcasm) this lyric sounds like an excuse, or withdrawl symptoms.
  
  This song really perfectly explains how being addicted on opiates for a long time feels.

  Flag 420bunnion September 17, 2008   Link

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    okay i have to put my two cents in because i'm a former heroin addict that has now been clean for nine months. this song whenever i hear it makes me wish i was back in that place, but at the same time it reminds me of the sickness. for me the song, as well as the way it's sung and played all remind me for some reason of being there in that beautiful nothingness where nothing matters and life is beautiful because the drugs lull you into a false sense of security and happiness.
    
    blue like water
    blue like heaven is all of the time
    (i'm in a perfect place where nothing can touch me, the drugs have taken me to a place where i am invincible and nothing can bring me down.)
    
    and i'm all right
    i'm just gagging on all the alright
    (for me this reminds me of the fact that when you're on opiates you're breathing is depressed and at times when a person is nodding out they have to catch their breath in order to feel alright...a strange interpretation, but just try and stay with me here.)
    
    i'm so happy, yeah happy
    i'm in heaven yeah heaven oh
    oh the season's come for opium
    (at this point in the addiction everything is perfect and the addict has a relationship with the drug where it makes them happy all of the time. there is no way that they are going to stop because they want to stay in this happy place.)
    
    Mom, mom
    
    (For me this is where you come back to earth in the song. it's a crash course in reality where you realize that the drug is gone, you can't go back there without it, and you're experiencing the worst pain you've ever felt physically and mentally due to withdrawals.)
    
    I'm so happy, yeah happy, oh oh
    I'm in heaven, yeah heaven, oh oh
    
    (The addict is now conflicted with what they should do. they don't want to quit because it takes them to cloud 9, but at the same time they're crying for help every time the drug is gone)
    
    Oh the seizures come from opium
    
    (In the end one of two things happen. either the addict dies, or they get off of the drugs entirely and that is where the seizures come in from the hardcore withdrawal that they have to face when they're time with the drug is over. they may have been in heaven, but now they have to go through the fires of hell just to get back to a middle ground.)
    
    Sorry if this is ridiculously in depth but me and this song go back a long time. I've been addicted to every type of opiate there is and i've been listening to this song since the beginning. for some reason it was always comforting to me, but it wasn't until i got clean that the song not only points out the euphoric aspects of opium, but it also shows the horrific affects of addiction put in a subliminal and brilliant way. amazing song.
    

    Flag aleibvoxon November 22, 2008  

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    Amen brotha.

    Flag r_bloodworthon March 10, 2010  
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  General Comment:The last part is NOT "seizures" it's a repeat of the other line "Oh the season's come for opium." Listen to the song.. he clearly sings season's with an N.

  Flag HypNoTiQxKiSs3zon May 03, 2008   Link

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    Agreed.

    Flag r_bloodworthon March 10, 2010  
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  General Comment:This song is definatley about opium. I'm for the most part in agreement with overanalytical. Meggaawesome, you don't have to be in pain to experience the heavenly delight of opium. If heaven had a feeling, I'd imagine it would be a lot like opium. Just an intense feeling of nothingness and warmth where everything is blue. When he's singing Mom though, that makes me think he's almost in despair as well. Withdraw is an intense process. I can see him wanting his mommy when he's getting the cold shakes and throwing up.

  Flag cannafieldon April 06, 2008   Link

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  General Comment:Blue like water
  Blue like heaven is
  all of the time
  -The drugs make him happy, but the addiction makes him melancholic
  
  
  I'm all right
  I'm just gagging on all the all right
  -He's alright from the high but the addiction is causing so many problems in his life.
  
  
  I'm so happy
  So happy
  I'm in heaven
  Yeah heaven
  -When he's high he doesn't feel the pain the addiction itself causes him. He feels nothing but Euphoria.
  
  Oh the season's come for opium
  -It's time to go get high to dumb the pain
  
  
  Mom...mom
  Mom...mom
  -This seems almost like a cry for help. Moms are always there to pick you up when you fall. (most of the time) Maybe this is a cry for help to escape the addiction. Or maybe from the withdrawls from the drug. It also could be the pain he feels.
  
  
  I'm so happy
  So happy
  I'm in heaven
  Yeah heaven
  -Temporarily distarcted from the pain by the euphoria induced by opium
  
  
  Oh the seizures come from opium
  -The thing that numbs his pain shakes up his life. Or maybe the withdrawls causing him problems.

  Flag meggawesomeon July 02, 2007   Link

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    The lead singer of Marcy Playground has openly said that Kurt Cobain is a big influence and inspired the Marcy Playground songs "Saint Joe on a School Bus" and "The Shadow of Seattle". Is this one? Who knows?

    Flag triggerhappyguyon June 23, 2009  
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  General Comment:I am on complete agreement with everything xoveranalyticalx said. And agree with everyone who said Marcy Playground is underrated, because it's every true. I love in the beginning how it sounds like he took a deep breath. It's the feeling of the song that I love.

  Flag pressplayon April 14, 2007   Link

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  General Comment:This song is very straightforward. There really is no "deeper meaning". Who ever said its about Kurt Cobain is dead wrong, no offense. Kurt Cobain was not the only famous person addicted to opiates. As many people have tried to explain it's simply about opium. As an opiate addict myself, I can tell you all first hand this song is a very accurate representation. Opiates such as opium, hydrocodone, codiene, oxycodone, heroin and such produce a relaxed high. However, Opium itself is much different than the others, causing less of a euphoric buzz and more so of a numbness of soul, hence the "blue like water, blue like heaven" lines. He's singing about how he's happy and numb because the season has come for papaver somniferum (the opium poppy). The line regarding seizures is a reference to the horrible effects of opiate withdrawal. When an addict is in withdrawal from heavy opiate use they frequently experience siezures. This is why so many addicts are forced to go into detox programs in hospitals because unlike quitting something like smoking cigarettes, opiate detox is a very serious and sometimes fatal thing involving dangerous withdrawals. The lead singer himself was an opiate addict, hence the entire theme of this CD being mostly opiates. Opium as well as the poppies they come from is referenced in many songs on this cd. The cover of the cd has poppies on it as well. Anyway, sorry to ramble just wanted to throw my 2 cents in...even though its more like my 10 cents at this point. Marcy playground IS an amazing band who got the shaft by the overplaying of their Sex and Candy song, which funny enough is nothing like most of their music. Glad to see so many other fans here.

  Flag xoveranalyticalxon January 26, 2007   Link

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