11-12-18
The repetition compulsion is a psychological phenomenon first coined by Sigmund Freud. He used it to describe a situation in which a person repeats a traumatic event or circumstance, over and over again. Whether it’s reenacting a specific event or placing oneself into precarious situations to help initiate the event once more. Essentially, as Freud would argue, ‘repetition compulsion describes the pattern whereby people endlessly repeat patterns of behavior which were difficult or distressing in earlier life.”
Frustration creeps in during moments of hopelessness and despair. Being worn out and made tired by endless repetitive circles and proverbially beating your head against the wall seems to be a normal condition of the human experience. The monotony of a tired existence is one which can bring even the noblest in us to uncanny levels of frustration. The repeated attempts at trying to milk all one can out of a life without meaning can lead to feeling caught in a dangerous repetitive compulsive pattern.
Repetition itself is of course not a bad thing at all; repetition leads to mastery, as well as a deeper exploration of a specific skill or task.
I find both sentiments present within this song. One of unparalleled frustration—a person who has “arrived ahead of their time,” and doomed to live a mediocre life within the confines of comfort and complacency. At the same time, I hear a mantra being built throughout the entire song, culminating in Tunde Adebimpe (TV on The Radio Lead singer) leading everyone in a cathartic release. His call brings in a possibility of mastery over frustration, a mastery over the safe and reserved positions some of us may be trapped in.
Through the frustration, through the complacency, there is a fire that burns. It aches to be let free, and at least for Tunde’s character, there is nothing that is going to stop him—no friend, no family, no amount of frustration, not even a damned repetitious cycle.
Lyrics:
To arrive ahead of its time
Is the fate of the fish washed up on shore
Do you know that it just won’t feel right
Till he’s swallowed up by the tide
Thought he might know better
Capital lifestyle height
Got a head full of fever
And it feels alright
Cause I shake my bottle
And I suck my sweat
And I love how I’m livin’
Cause I caught my fill
But I can’t stop thinkin’
how it’s all gone wrong
Through the cracks from the obvious
before its all too long
I’ve abused my position
And it’s cost my friends
And if the world keeps turning
I can do it again
What’s the matter with your next door neighbor?
I heard he had sick drugs and danger.
But you can kick it with a complete stranger
I think I hear him calling.
What’s the matter with your next door neighbor?
An act of man, a freak of nature.
You can kick it with a complete stranger
I think I hear him calling
With the tops of some heads
It’s a walk in the park
If you don’t gotta hope
You can see in the dark
Carry your hearts
Hail Mary, will your life unfold
I’m a man on a mission
Or so I’ve been told
You can choose my victims
Or can shed my skin
And if the world keeps turnin’
I can do it again
But I can’t stop thinkin’
that its all gone wrong
And the truth will be out there
Before it’s too long
I’ve abused my position
And it’s cost my friends
If the world keeps turnin’
I’m gonna do it again
What’s the matter with your next door neighbor?
I heard he had sick drugs and danger.
But you can kick it with a complete stranger
I think I hear him calling.
What’s the matter with your next door neighbor?
An act of God, a freak of nature.
You can kick it with a complete stranger
I think the curtain is falling down!
We lock eyes
And walk away, unrecognized
We lock arms and spin
Commence our repetition
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!
My repetition, my repetition is this!