12
Oct
Sonic Youth - “Candle”
I see a dark star drivin’ at his magic, snatch it
keeps me up awake go crystal cracking
I can’t wait
I can’t stay, uh candle
Gotta change my mind before it burns out
I’m the cocker on the rock
Wind is whipping through my stupid mop
I see a falling snowgirl walking Broadway
Turns the corner at 14th and I know there’s no way
It’s alright
It’s a lighted candle
And I know that she’ll be okay by sunday
I’m the cocker on the rock
Coming back start shining
In your electric clock
It’s safe to say, candle
Tonight’s the day, candle
It’s alright now, candle
The wind’s away, candle
Never thought I’d see a dark star falling
I’m the cocker on the rock
Wind is whipping through my stupid mop
Even though my drawing pays homage to “Dude Ranch Nurse” off Sonic Nurse, Daydream Nation’s “Candle” deals with the same themes and narratives. At first glance, “Candle” is an obvious reference to drug abuse, and in particular, crystal meth as shown by the line, “Keeps me up awake, go crystal cracking.” Speed is an amphetamine, meaning that you can’t sleep under its influence, and it also happens to be a crystal that cracks. In the chorus, he refers to himself as a “cocker on the rock”. Since “cocker” is a term that means “buddy” or “friend”, this line can be interpreted as Thurston being a “friend” of the “rock” (or meth). This drug subtext is more about the slippery slope of addiction more than anything else. The descent into addiction is a fast one and it seems as if life is passing him by, as suggested by the line “wind is whipping through my stupid mop,” where the “stupid mop” is referring to his mop-style haircut. In the second verse, he parallels his crystal meth problem with another form of substance abuse. The “falling snowgirl” is referring to a girl that is drugged-out on cocaine (snow is slang for coke), and seeing her in her “falling” descent of drug addiction scares him as he knows “there’s no way”. In the back of his head, he knows there’s no way for her to turn or go that will escape her from her fate of addiction, but he still convinces himself that “it’s alright” under the pretense that “she’ll be okay by Sunday”. But next week is just another descent. He knows that he needs to break from his habit before it’s too late – he needs to “change his mind before it burns out. Or in other words, he needs to break his mind’s addiction on drugs before his mind is burnt out.
But this song is not only about crystal meth. He has to “change his mind before it burns out.” Surely, the “it” can refer to his mind in relation to crystal meth addiction, but it also can be referencing the “candle” in the previous line. In Western art and especially Vanitas still life paintings, the burning candle is a symbol for mortality – the candle is representative of our life and the flame is time slowly melting away our existence. This image is obviously an important one to Thurston as the song is named after the candle, not to mention the “Daydream Nation” album art is a lit candle. This adds a dimension to the “wind” imagery throughout the song, as a gust of wind could easily blow out a candle, or in other words, end a life. The “falling snowgirl” is still a “lit candle” because she is still alive, but her addiction puts into question the longevity of her lit candle. The same question is posed for Thurston, as he is speeding through life and “wind is whipping” through his head and posing a threat to his life. In the first verse, the line, “I can’t stay, uh, candle” can be interpreted as a need to escape from life, or even suicide. The escape from reality is obviously in reference to drugs, though the suicide can also be correlated to addiction as by abusing substances, Thurston is essentially committing a prolonged suicide. In the final verse, there is a glimpse of hope with the lines “Tonight’s the day, candle / It’s alright now, candle / The wind’s away, candle” – perhaps today is the day Thurston breaks his addiction and the wind of addiction finally ceased threatening his existence.
However, this duality of life and death represented in the candle does not necessarily have to be interpreted literally. Rather than talking about crystal meth or addiction, this song could be metaphorically addressing the issue of how we perceive our lives. The chorus can be interpreted completely differently as the “cocker on the rock” can be referring to a male rooster on top of a rock and the “stupid mop” can be referring to the rooster’s wattle (skin flap on top of it’s head). This interpretation adds another dimension to the second chorus when Thurston replaces the second line with “coming back start shining / in your electric clock.” The rooster on top of the rock is waiting for the sun to come back around the horizon and to “start shining” so that it can make his call. With structure in his life, the rooster finds a purpose for every new day, whereas the “falling snowgirl” and Thurston let weeks go by only to find themselves in the same place. By letting life pass them by, time becomes meaningless – just a number on an “electric clock”. Thus, drugs are simply a symbol for any form of escape from reality and moreover, the concept of passing life by. The burnt out candle is a metaphorical death caused by escape more than a literal death caused by addiction, as Thurston suggests his lifestyle is “stupid” and has to be “changed” before its too late. So is there hope at the end? Is everything really “alright now”?
Let the nurse give you a shot, its something to do. It’s so easy to turn to outside ourselves for help coping – coping with loss, coping with love, coping with yesterday, coping with tomorrow, or maybe just coping with the next breath you have to take. We turn to shots – shots to make you feel numb, shots to make you feel anything, shots to make you feel confident, or maybe just a shot at life. Is a life we speed through worth it though? Is a life dependent on escape fulfilling in the end? Maybe it’s time that we turn inside ourselves for help living our own lives rather than these artificial outside escapes… Maybe it’s time to live a little. And maybe that means we have to change our mind before it burns out.
