Modest Mouse - Dramamine

I chose to pick apart Modest Mouse's song Dramamine since SongMeanings.net had horrible interpretations of this song...

Lyrics:

Travelling swallowing Dramamine
Feeling spaced breathing out Listerine
I'd said what I'd said that I'd tell ya
And that you'd killed the better part of me
If you could just milk it for everything
I've said what I'd said and you know what I mean
But I still can't focus on anything
We kiss on the mouth but still cough down our sleeves

Travelling swallowing Dramamine
Look at your face like you're killed in a dream
And you think you've figured out everything
I think I know my geography pretty damn well
You say what you need so you'll get more
If you could just milk it for everything
I've said what I said and you know what I mean
But I can't still focus on anything


Explanation:

So many interpretations of this song include some reference to overuse of Dramamine, a drug used to control sickness during car, boat, or airplane rides. However, although bands are notorious for their use of drugs, Modest Mouse's "Dramamine", I believe, is based on a bad relationship, and it's rocky movements like that of the sea, or rough car ride.

 The first verse hints at the turbulence of this relationship with the lines, "And that you'd killed the better part of me... If you could just milk it for everything." These two lines indicate that in the situation or relationship, one person is feeling very used, that some part of them is now stripped away from their character at how this ephemeral person has treated them. Moreover, one person wants to leave but doesn't, "I've said what I'd said and you know what I mean. But I still can't focus on anything." If these lines do not make this detrimental relationship clear, the next line, "We kiss on the mouth but still cough down our sleeves", serves to show that regardless of the intimate acts committed, this line implies the relationship makes each person sick.

The second verse really makes the first verse's conflict seem mellow, opening with a violent line, "Look at your face like you're killed in a dream" signifying the lengths at which the relationship is deteriorating. Following this line, "And you think you've figured out everything. I think I know my geography pretty damn well", signals to the listener that the singer believes the other person is at fault for the relationship's mishaps, and may have been blamed for all the problems. Next is a new line showing that the singer is constantly giving to this other person, "You say what you need so you'll get more" followed by a repeated line, "If you could just milk it for everything", both displaying a begrudging desire to give this other person what they want. The song ends with the same verse ending, "But I can't still focus on anything". Dramamine is a symbol in this piece as the desire for not feeling that sickness from the relationship's rockiness.


When in such a relationship with someone you care about, in a relationship with ups and downs or starts and stops, such as a boat ride or car ride, it almost feels like there is no focus in actual life because the relationship is taking up a huge portion of attention and focus. Dramamine is the metaphorical bandaid holding the relationship together by numbing the sickening effects of what is actually happening. The tone does the song justice in relating a kind of motion that carries the lyrics over unseen lyrical waves, splashing and crashing emotional undertones against the listener's psyche.

Hope you enjoyed!