Mental Health is so very misunderstood. In addition to the social stigma, there are rampant misconceptions about the help we seek. This song wants to let you know that you are not alone.
I Never Told You I Was Broken is not an easy song, nor an easy subject. In a culture of emotional repression, victim blaming, and lack of empathy, it can be extremely difficult to tell others that you have been abused, assaulted, traumatized, or suffer from mental illness. Even those with sympathy may treat you differently, or trust your competence less. It is a door that cannot be closed. Our self preservation instincts cause us to hide parts of ourselves that are in no way bad, but will be construed as bad, and give us permanent classification. These imposed negative labels may come to dominate other’s perceptions of us. While trauma can affect everything, it is not the whole of a person. Trying to overcome trauma while facing fear or judgement from others adds more mountains, and can be debilitating. Survivors may keep things private for very good reasons, but they may also internalize shame, even when they have done nothing wrong. You can tell the world and be judged, or tell no one and feel isolated; Are these the best we have for choices in a world where we know better?
This song is for anyone dealing with that pain, you are not alone.
Mental Health is so very misunderstood. In addition to the social stigma, there are rampant misconceptions about the help we seek. This song wants to let you know that you are not alone.
When we are in deep despair, walking through the world around us can be a dissociative experience, looking at others who seem “normal” as though they exist in some other realm, where doing everyday activities and enjoying life is no challenge. Depression, and states of feeling outside of the conventional society, can make us feel as though we are only floating through the traditional world, unseen.
This new video on Youtube today features Barbara Dragon performing The Repressions original song “Ghost Walk” and hoping very much that it makes someone out there feel understood, and not alone.
LYRICS:
SLIDING SCALE
This is a sick song
This is a sad song
This is a bad song
Where everything’s wrong
I’m coming apart now
Soul-sick in my heart now
I can’t even start now
So run right along
I’m lying in bed bow
So leave me for dead now
Get out of my head now
I’m not very strong
On my sliding scale of sadness
On my third derail today
You pay for how you play and what you cannot say and what you throw away
Which came first the sick or sad which way… Sliding scale… Sliding scale
This is a sick song
This is a sad song
This is a bad song
Where everything’s wrong
I’m not a machine here
Quit acting so mean dear
I’ll fix it up next year
If that’s not too long
The world’s a bit gray now
it’s just not my day now
Can’t go out and play now
I do not belong
On my sliding scale of sadness
On my third derail today
You pay for how you play and what you cannot say and what you throw away
Which came first the sick or sad which way……………….. Sliding scale…. Sliding Scale…… Sliding scale….Sliding scale
This is a sick song, This is a sad song This is a bad song , Where everything’s wrong
This is a sick song, This is a sad song This is a bad song , Where everything’s wrong
Trauma changes us fundamentally. We live with it, we adjust, adapt, we carry on and often think we have contained it. It is the ultimate trickster, however, and can so surprise-hello you just when you think you have put it away. .. and so we dress it up, we dress it over…
If you or someone you know is dealing with trauma or PTSD, The Repressions understand and dedicate this song to you.
Sometime you may reach a point with a person in your life where you don’t know if you should let them see all that has happened and all you may be. Will that person ever look at you the same again?
From the blizzard sessions The Repressions made a simple live video for this strange song. Panic Attacks are not funny by any means, but if you or someone you know suffers from them, this song is for you, from the point of view of the attack itself. Giving the panic external form was helpful in the writing of it, perhaps it can give someone out there a laugh of understanding, or at least a little empathy.
Come and be mental next Friday in Astoria with The Repressions!
The Repressions 