Semi Charmed Life (1997)

Third Eye Blind's song 'Semi Charmed Life' debuted as the first single on the band's 1997 self-titled album. 

Third Eye Blind album cover art (1997)

It quickly became one of the most well known (and most played) songs of the late 90s as it made its way up the charts peaking at number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was featured in several movies including Dirty Work (1998), Wild Things (1998), American Pie (1999), and A Lot Like Love (2006). A snippet of it can also be heard in Contact (1997). 

 

 

Music Video, Semi Charmed Life (1997), YouTube

 

It’s an upbeat catchy song right from the opening line, so much so that I can recognize the song by only 1-2 seconds being played of it.

 

Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo... 

 

It’s a happy song...or is it?

 

Have you really listened to the lyrics? Read them below. You'll soon find out that it isn't a happy song after all.

 

I'm packed and I'm holding

I'm smiling, she's living, she's golden

She lives for me, says she lives for me

Ovation, her own motivation

She comes round and she goes down on me

And I make her smile, like a drug for you

Do ever what you wanna do, coming over you

Keep on smiling, what we go through

One stop to the rhythm that divides you

 

And I speak to you like the chorus to the verse

Chop another line like a coda with a curse

Come on like a freak show takes the stage

We give them the games we play, she said...

 

I want something else, to get me through this

Semi-charmed kinda life, baby, baby

I want something else, I'm not listening when you say good-bye

 

Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo...

 

The sky was gold, it was rose

I was taking sips of it through my nose

And I wish I could get back there, someplace back there

Smiling in the pictures you would take

Doing crystal meth, will lift you up until you break

It won't stop, I won't come down

I keep stock with the tick-tock rhythm, I bump for the drop

And then I bumped up, I took the hit that I was given

Then I bumped again, then I bumped again

I said...

 

How do I get back there, to the place where I fell asleep inside you

How do I get myself back to the place where you said...

 

I want something else, to get me through this

Semi-charmed kinda life, baby, baby

I want something else, I'm not listening when you say good-bye

 

 

I believe in the sand beneath my toes

The beach gives a feeling, an earthy feeling

I believe in the faith that grows

And the four right chords can make me cry

When I'm with you I feel like I could die

And that would be alright, alright

 

 

And when the plane came in, she said she was crashing

The velvet it rips in the city, we tripped on the urge to feel alive

Now I'm struggling to survive, those days you were wearing that velvet dress

You're the priestess, I must confess

Those little red panties they pass the test

Slide up around the belly, face down on the mattress

 

One

And you hold me, and we're broken

Still it's all that I wanna do, just a little now

Feel myself, heading off the ground

I'm scared, I'm not coming down

No, no

And I won't run for my life

She's got her jaws now, locked down in a smile

But nothing is alright, alright

 

And I want something else, to get me through this life

Baby, I want something else

Not listening when you say...

Good-bye, good-bye, good-bye, good-bye

 

Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo...

 

The sky was gold, it was rose (Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo...)

I was taking sips of it through my nose (Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo...)

And I wish I could get back there (Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo...)

Someplace back there, in the place we used to start (Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo...)

 

 

I want something else (Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo...)

Lyrics as written by Stephan Jenkins.

____________________________________________________________

Semi Charmed Life is the happiest sounding song you'll ever hear about doing methamphetamine and drug addiction.

 

 

 

 

The beat goes on...

The US Federal government has moved to control five new synthetic cannabinoids as Schedule I controlled  substances.

Synthetic cannabinoid herbal incense

Image by Kevin G. Shanks (2015)

These newer alphabet soup synthetic cannabinoids include:

4-CN-CUMYL-BUTINACA
1-(4-cyanobutyl)-N-(1-methyl-1-phenylethyl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide

5F-AB-PINACA
N-[(1S)-1-(aminocarbonyl)-2-methylpropyl]-1-(5-fluoropentyl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide

4-CN-CUMYL-BUT7AICA
1-(4-cyanobutyl)-N-(1-methyl-1-phenylethyl)-1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine-3-carboxamide

MMB-CHMICA
Methyl(1-(cyclohexylmethyl)-1H-indole-3-carbonyl)-L-valinate

NM2201
Napthalen-1-yl 1-(5-fluoropentyl)-1H-indole-3-carboxylate

Chemical Structures of Newly Controlled Cannabinoids

Drawn by Kevin G. Shanks (2018)

With the inclusion of these five substances, the Federal government has now scheduled 38 synthetic cannabinoids since 2011. In case you want to learn more about synthetic cannabinoids, I wrote a 2.5 minute primer on them quite a while ago. It's a quick read and is still more than applicable -  you can find it here.

Also, there are many posts about these substances on this blog. Please read some of them as these are substances of extreme toxicological importance. These substances are cheap. They are used for convenience and to evade drug tests for THC. They are easy to get ahold of. Yet, they are complete pharmacological and toxicological unknowns. As I usually say, when people consume products containing synthetic cannabinoids, they are ingesting substances of unknown identification with unknown pharmacological and toxicology properties in unknown dosages in unknown combinations. It's a recipe for disaster.


And the beat goes on...

Stay safe.


References

United States DEA (2018) Notice of Intent: Schedules of Controlled Substances: Temporary Placement of NM2201, 5F-AB-PINACA, 4-CN-CUMYL-BUTINACA, MMB-CHMICA, and 5F-CUMYL-P7AICA Into Schedule I.
Federal Register, Volume 83, Number 103
https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/fed_regs/rules/2018/fr0530.htm