Proof of a problem: Therapist reacts to “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyed
“When I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye
I turned to look, but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown, the dream is gone
I have become comfortably numb.”
“Comfortably Numb” lyrics by Pink Floyd
This was my very first time listening to Pink Floyd in my life, and it was beautiful. I did a little bit of research on this song before, and I found out that it was inspired by when one of the band members was sick. A doctor came in and gave him numbing medicine so that he could perform the show. Essentially, my source said that Roger Waters was injected with a tranquilizer before that show in 1977, and he said, “It was the longest two hours of my lifetime to do a show when you could hardly lift your arm.”
I feel like the song’s first verse is really interesting. It sounds like the doctor coming in and being like, “I can use your pain. I can help you.”
The second verse is the person who's actually feeling numb:
“There is no pain.
I'm receding.”
I think numbness as an idea is really, really interesting, and it's something that we often seek in our society in a variety of different ways. It's usually because we're trying to cover something up, fix something, solve something or get through something.
What is crazy about this song is that although the lyrics talk about being comfortably numb, I don't know how you could feel numb listening to the music of the song — especially the guitar. It's pulling feeling out of you the whole time, which I think is really beautiful and definitely a gift of this song.
What’s really interesting about numbness in particular is that it makes a lot of sense why people seek it. This idea of comfortably numb is a really hard pocket to sit in. It's very rare that you're actually able to sit in that pocket of comfortable numbness for very long. It's a very fleeting feeling.
But people try to get there with drugs, with social media, with lots of things, by shutting down their emotions. That’s too easy.
Numbness is always indicative of a problem. If you are numb because you're going into surgery, there's something wrong that needs to be fixed. If you're numb because you're on drugs, there's a problem. If you're numb because your leg is suddenly numb, it's because there's a problem and you should go to the doctor. If you're experiencing emotional numbness in your relationships, that's a problem. Numbness is always indicative of a problem.
So to say that you're comfortably numb is to say that you're comfortable with your problems. Most people seek numbness as a solution to their problems, but numbness really only shows that there is a problem in the first place. If you have to numb out to your life, there is a problem.
This song gives you a safe way, when you listen to it, to release the numbness, feel into the problem, and explore what's actually going on.
This is such a feeling song when you listen to it. What comes up for you? Where are you using numbness in your life to cover up problems?
“Comfortably Numb” is so beautiful, and it's safe when you listen to it to let go and explore, to uncover these problems. If there's numbness, there's a problem. Just like what the song was written about: there was a problem. Roger had a sickness that they just numbed out so he could perform.
If you hear yourself in this story, if you’re thinking, “I have a lot of numbness in my life. I know there's a problem I need to explore.”
Please go to our support forum and we'll encourage you. And if you want to be someone who walks alongside others as they uncover the numbness in their life, who encourages the Pink Floyd fans who will open up in the comments, I want you to go to heartsupport.com/swat to volunteer with us. We'll train you.
You don’t have to stay comfortably numb.
