Day 27: DNA - Lia Marie Johnson

Song: DNA
Artist: Lia Marie Johnson

Jan 27

My mood has been foul and somber all day. The need to decompress and relax has taken root but there is never enough time. I have so many things that I want to read or even watch but somehow my free time on the weekends seems to dissipate faster and faster. It also doesn't help that we're due for a snow storm and super low temps this upcoming week and my tolerance for this weather is lower than ever.

"DNA" starts with the melody of an introspective piano. Lia's vocal joins in full of natural breaks which fills the song with a feeling of broken emotional hurt. I love when artists utilize their vocal breaking points like that, it is such a dynamic edge making what could sound "perfectly pretty" "imperfectly beautiful". As we travel into the chorus it's as if we can actually hear her fighting spirit being breathed into life. Confident in its conviction but tinged with a melancholic realization her desire may be out of her control. One of the few moments that we hear actual desperation is in the bridge before the final chorus. She's pleading with everything she's got before she strongly starts to fight before we end bittersweet, soft, and resigned.

I'm going to be totally honest, when I first heard this song I definitely was not paying close enough attention to the lyrics. My focus was on the beautiful sadness of the melody (it was really captivating). That being said the lyrics I did pick up made me foolishly believe this to just be another sad unrequited love song or something. The first time I really listened to the lyrics it was like the universe opened up and slapped me for not paying enough attention. I bring this up because too often in life we do this, right? We see or hear what's on the surface because we are only half paying attention to the others around us. But if we actually pay attention or listen to the people who fill our world we will see what was right in front of our eyes the entire time. It's hard to do all the time but I think it's important that we try.

"Dark as midnight
Six pack Coors Light
You don't look the same

"Past my bedtime
Blue and red lights
Come take you away"

Our first verse screams to me that whomever our singer is seeing is under the influence of something, in this case it would appear the something is alcohol. Now the second verse is interesting. The fist line "Past my bedtime" indicates to me that she is a little girl which immediately makes me think that the other person is a parent or close relative. The blue and red lights are self explanatory as the person seems to have been arrested.

"I won't be, no I won't be like you
Fighting back, I'm fighting back the truth
Eyes like yours can't look away
But you can't stop DNA
No, you can't stop DNA"

This chorus really cuts me on many different levels. There is always that saying that we become our parents. Whether that be a good thing or a bad thing. There are certain things I would love to adopt from my parents as I continue in my journey through life and there are just as many things that I don't. Our singer is very much fighting not to turn out like her, I am assuming, parent. A parent that appears to suffer from alcoholism, which makes the statement about being unable to stop DNA even more poignant. Scientific studies have proven that alcoholism and traits of addiction can many times be an inherited genetic trait. Now this doesn't mean that person will for sure be an addict or alcoholic, however, certain behaviors like anger issues can stem from that genetic precursor. So how do you fight against something that is essentially coded into your DNA?

Lyric that attacked me:
"Are the pieces of you
In the pieces of me
I'm just so scared
You're who I'll be
When I erupt
Just like you do
They look at me
Like I look at you"

Song Color: Velvety Burgundy

Mood: Confrontational