Lyrics:
I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that place.
Even your emotions have an echo
...
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 Top Rated Interpretation
anonymous
November 20th, 2006 10:39PM
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After listening to Gnarls Barkley's song entitled "Crazy", I am convinced that he is speaking about his experiences with psychedelics. It might be just Marijuana but it is possible Gnarls is talking about any hallucinogen. I have had lots of experiences with psychedelic drugs including marijuana, home-grown mushrooms, wild-grown mushrooms, and mescaline. On one experience I had with home-grown mushrooms, I ate WAY too much (2.4 dry grams) and travelled along the edges of insanity. I can still remember the intense experience and Gnarls remembers his too stating in the first line:
"I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind"
Then he mentions some of the effects of the drug he experienced in the next lines saying:
"There was something so pleasant about that place (phase?)
Even your emotions had in echo
And so much space"
The pleasant factor was maybe the laughter or the sense of wonder, exicitness, or tranquillity that psychedelics can produce in the mind. Then the emotion-echo is proubly refering to his psychedelic experience that not only had sounds that were echoing (from auditory hallucinations), but emotions were felt twice or more as like a echos makes sounds be heard more than once. As for the "and so much space", that can be pretty much anything. One thing could be that he was outside looking up at the stars at night and thought "wow, look at all that space". I looked at the stars on mushrooms and all I thought was "Man, space is so big compared to Earth". It could also be when he closed his eyes, he had what is called Closed Eye Visual hallucinations. I have experienced these CEV's and believe me, I have seen many things that seem to go on forever into the distance of my eyelids.
Skipping down the lyrics, Gnarls speaks again about 'losing his mind':
"Yeah, I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much"
Simply, he was 'out of touch' with reality. This is common with psychedelics, especially people who are unexperienced with these types of drugs. And it was because he "knew too much" about everything. Maybe he started to self-reflect and had a overload of information coming into his mind. Or maybe he had overload of senses and could not make sense of what he was experiencing. There can be a lot of possible meanings for the "I just knew too much" and I only mentioned a few.
In the next lines, he gives advice to anyone who wants to try psychedelics saying:
"And I hope your having the time of your life
But think twice
Thats my only advice"
He realises that drugs can be fun, but they can also do harm to ones mind and life. Thats why he warns the user to "think twice" before using any psychedelic as bad trips can happen and they can be very unconfortable experiences.
"Come on now, who do you...think you are?
Ha Ha Ha, bless your soul
You really think you're in control?"
I think these lines are refering to people he's talk to that think that they can handle any psychedelic at any dose. Gnarls is proubly laughing at them because he thinks these people are naive for underestimating hallucinogens. And the "you...think you're in control?" is proubly refering to people who are confident they will not have Bad Trip or people who are addicted to the substance (likely Marijuana) and think that they are "in control" of their habit.
The last lines I will decipher is these:
"Ever since I was little...oh it looked like fun
And its no concidence I've come
And I can die when I'm done"
When he was little, Gnarls proubly lived in an area where a lot of people smoked marijuana. He watched and learned that smoking marijuana lead to laughter and smiling, which equals fun. Then he tried it and "its no concidence.." that it really is fun. Which means the whole song is proubly about his first experiences with mairjuana. My first experience with marijuana was by far the most intense psychedelic experience to this date. However, it didn't feel like I was going 'crazy' but it was very intense and profound.
As for the "And I can die when I'm done", I have no idea what he's talking about. Maybe it means that after he's bored with Mary Jane, he is ready to die. Maybe he's talking about his Perfect Self (this is experienced by users who take a huge dose of halluciogens at once and reach a point where they feel that they are in the most perfect form of themselves. It feels as if every sober moment before that psychedelic moment was a fog that hid them from discovering their self. The psychedelic drug, to the user, has lifted that fog and expose the user to his/her true, perfect self.)
But who knows. Only Gnarls Barkley knows the real meaning. Or maybe, even he "knows too much".
If you want to see the visual interpretation of "Crazy" download the music video. Its a tripped-out journey of animated ink that may be refering to psychiatry, mentally-distrubed people and ink blot interpretations. And don't forget to look for the White Rabbit man.
~LogicalChaos~
anonymous
May 31st, 2006 08:27PM
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Crazy, by Gnarls Barkley - which as far as I can tell is a group of guys you'd usually call a band. (Very good and highly respected guys, btw.)
Before we start, the lyrics, just to remind you not only of their illusive presence, but also to remind you of that crayz bassline, remembered by no coincidence from the eighties somewhere, and the chorus, whose vulnerable backing become an instrument all alone.
And then you think some more.
--
I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so present about that place
Even your emotions have an echo in so much space
And when you're out there without care
I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much
Does that make me crazy
Does that make me crazy
Does that make me crazy
Possibly
In all that you were having the time of your life
But think twice That's my only advice
Cmon now
who do you
who do you
who do you
who do you think you are
ha ha ha
Bless your soul
You really think you're in control
Well
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
Just like me
My heroes had the heart to live their lives out on a limb
All I remember
Was thinking I wanna be like them
Ever since I was little
Ever since I was little
It looked like fun
It was no coincidence I've come
And I can die when I'm done
But maybe I'm crazy
Maybe you're crazy
Maybe we're crazy
Probably
--
So, we're all crazy – or at least maybe, possibly.
That about sums up his simplest conclusion: we're all in the same boat, and we certainly don't know whether we're coming or going.
What we do know is that we are - we think, after all - but we do not know where we're going, or which way we should try to go - i.e. we're not sure what's best to think about.
I think we should think about the place that’s so present - the place you end up when you lose your mind – still your mind, or rather, the system of ideas that are admissible in the new state of mind.
The cynic sees the world from above, but he has overcome the seriousness of much of modern-day reality - job, house, tree, pet (or spelling with a hyphen) - and now takes an outsider's perspective on what's going on around him. He's chosen himself, and is now looking out from within, with his own needs, wants and desires; if there's no purpose or God (apart from yourself) then why not be selfish?
Maybe that's it: selfishness. But a relatively benign selfishness, if at all: not spiteful in any way, just looking out for number 1. Freedom from the constraints of control by family and peer and personal and career pressures is the state in which Crazy is written. But he's looking back, showing and enticing you to see what he has seen (no religious revelation, mind), coercing to let go and join in the bliss of disassociation from the fools on the street around you, the fools who have not seen. Ostensive instruction, if you will (don’t type it into google, that’s not what I mean).
He does it in the second part of the first verse - you’re having the time of your life but you’re not in control – there’s lots of lyrics in the middle there, but that’s all he’s saying: there’s no real or absolute self will. It simply doesn’t exist. Determinism of sorts reigns and the middle bit is just asking the question.
Determinism is deposed where he lets go – when the space around him opened up and the release becomes so great that even emotions echo (flashback?). Absolute certainty about your own personal values, rather than the rat race, rather than all those arrogant twats who take themselves much too seriously, that’s where what some would argue arrogance deters minism. [Is that allowed, Ed?]
When you’re out there and out of touch, the listener is in the mind of Gnarls, who has let go, so to speak. You’re among the normal people, in the high street, or shopping mall, but can’t associate with them at all. (We must bear in mind that there are a lot of psychedelic (even funkadelic) influences going on). The almost smugly euphoric release is there, but there’s lament, too. The sorrowful tone of “I just knew too much” does that for me.
Although the sorrowful tone of the whole song disqualifies euphoria altogether, really, I can’t help but mention it. It’s euphoria at the state of release, not the state of humankind.
Who do you think you are? Bless your soul. You’re crazy. Just like me.
It always looked like fun to be here, and fun is why you’re here, it’s the coincidence, so make the best of your life and don’t betray yourself - you’re gonna die when you’re done.
And you’re as irrelevant as you want to be.
In some words, see today as the first day of your death. Your long, prosperous and spectacular death. Nothing strange or scary about it. Just living.
That’s just some ideas on Crazy. For all I know it’s simply about some girl who has left him and while he was left in emptiness, she was out there having a good time.
With me. Submissive but so present and in touch.
anonymous
July 26th, 2006 03:19AM
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This is not about drugs!
anonymous
April 10th, 2007 08:19PM
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I think the first interpretation is correct. Crazy is also a word that is really losely thrown around in society- I believe this would necessarily represent drug use! When I hear the word "Crazy" in the song I hear affection for it; whenever I hear someone else say that too it's usually taken as a compliment!
anonymous
May 29th, 2007 08:29PM
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I have heard so many things about this song and every one of them are kinda funny. I have heard everything from drugs, to love, to war, and they are all right, but all wrong. If you look at the music video it is a bunch of ink blots, but it you gotta think about what he is saying. The song is about everything, or ones own vision of it. At first I was 100% SURE it was about drugs, but then I realized it's about much more. It is a song about everything and nothing, maybe that's crazy...probably
anonymous
November 18th, 2007 03:58PM
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Here is an excerpt from a NY Times interview with Danger Mouse -
"A song like 'Crazy' is a great example," Burton says. "I brought in a song that I felt was a complete Ennio Morricone ripoff" — he's referring to the definitive composer of countless spaghetti-western scores. "But Cee-Lo and I started talking, and I somehow got off on this tangent about how people won't take an artist seriously unless they're insane. And we were saying that if we really wanted this album to work, the best move would be to just kill ourselves. That's how audiences think; it's retarded. So we started jokingly discussing ways in which we could make people think we were crazy. We talked about this for hours, and then I went home. But while I was away, Cee-Lo took that conversation and made it into 'Crazy,' which we recorded in one take. That's the whole story. The lyrics are his interpretation of that conversation."
anonymous
December 4th, 2007 06:17PM
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So while bored one day after I got home while I was listening to this song on the radio, and a certain line ("It wasn't because I didn't know enough, I just knew too much.") just caught my attention, and inspired and guided this entire entire interpretation.
This song (at least to me) tells the tale of a man who uncovered confidential documents at a classification level so high even a general would have to go through appropriations to have access.
To keep his discovery, which might just spread to the public and cause riots, panic, et cetera, the government censored him indirectly by institutionalizing him.
From this, the retelling from his interment in the happy home begins, as he begins explaining when he "lost his mind", or at least what the government has made the public belive.
His interment was horribly lonesome and solitary in his concrete room, so silent that even "your emotions have an echo" from the stillness and solitude of it all, the rooms seeming from claustrophobic to seemingly incredibly spacious, "in so much space."
Eventually, someone has the courage to approach him and befriend him, but instantly he criticizes her blissfully unaware state, eventually making her "crazy" too, as she learns about the predetermined nature the government has them mapped out for, and learns she really thought that she "was in control", and as far as the public is concerned, they're loonie, and they're both alienated from the general populace.
As the two slowly succumb into actual insanity from their isolation and constant stigma and bias, the speaker teaches about how he wanted to learn this kind of thing, and to uncover the government's secrets, his heros being those who had the courage to do so.
Alas, over time they actually do become crazy, and eventually end up killing themselves in their delusional state, and "died when they were done".
anonymous
December 21st, 2007 06:56PM
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I think that this song is truly about drugs and how he used to use drugs. But just because it's about drugs does NOT mean that it is a bad song, in fact I think that it is a subliminal message trying to tell kids about drugs and that they are bad, and that if you think that you are in control when you use them, then you are wrong you are not in control at all so if you use them then that makes you crazy.
Also he is saying that he once used drugs so that makes him crazy, and that if you do drugs you are crazy just like him.
So it's a subliminal message for all kids and teens telling that drugs ARE bad and not to use them.
anonymous
December 29th, 2007 01:12PM
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I found myself wondering, "what the hell does this sound mean?". When you read the lyrics, a few times over, you'll notice that the lyric don't say much. It's very elusive. Coupled with the fact that the video has the Rorschach Inkblot Images going-in-and-out,(which is a psychological test using projection), shows that the video and the lyrics are nothing but what the listener interprets the song to mean. See if your present condition and your interpretation of the lyrics parallel.
anonymous
March 6th, 2008 09:40PM
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I think it is a love song. It is about madly falling in love in someone. It is a crazy feeling and at the same time beautiful. He is so in love and he says : "who do you thin you are?"- to a lover- Do you think you are in control? This is some anger because he is so in love that he feels mad because the other side doesn't show the same. So this is a sad part - he is angry and so in loved and under the power of the other person - so he says in anger-"Do you think you are in control". Because he is completely overwhelmed with the feelings and is losing a bit of identity.
Still the last part of the song is more philosophical. The thing is that he is brave to be overwhelmed with this love because it is obvious something that doesn't have future. It is like not allowed by society or something else.
It is a forbidden passionate love.
Being in love is like being on drugs
anonymous
October 23rd, 2008 11:13PM
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I think this song is likely about drugs, there are obvious references in the song. also, when he mentions his "heroes" (perhaps they were his musical heroes or people he looked up to in childhood) most likely all did drugs (especially true with the musical heroes). They were living their life "out on a limb" because they were risking things by constantly being on drugs. gnarls warns people who want to try drugs in the song by telling them to "think twice." however I don't think it's about marijuana I don't think that it's a hallucinogen unless it's like purple haze or something idk
anonymous
November 26th, 2008 12:13AM
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Here is an excerpt from a NY Times interview with Danger Mouse -
"A song like 'Crazy' is a great example," Burton says. "I brought in a song that I felt was a complete Ennio Morricone ripoff” he's referring to the definitive composer of countless spaghetti-western scores. "But Cee-Lo and I started talking, and I somehow got off on this tangent about how people won't take an artist seriously unless they're insane. And we were saying that if we really wanted this album to work, the best move would be to just kill ourselves. That's how audiences think; it's retarded. So we started jokingly discussing ways in which we could make people think we were crazy. We talked about this for hours, and then I went home. But while I was away, Cee-Lo took that conversation and made it into 'Crazy,' which we recorded in one take. That's the whole story. The lyrics are his interpretation of that conversation."
Right to the source. Although personal interpretation keeps many of us interested in music. We take what we want and need out of lyrics, music, and words in general. There are those who came here to find out the definite answer, and many who came to post thier personal interpretation.
I know that mine was way off, but hey, I still think it fits.
~Danielle
FreakyMunkye@gmail.com
anonymous
December 25th, 2008 12:09AM
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I'm pretty sure that this song is at least partly about taking LSD or a similar drug.
"I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind"
When you take LSD you effectively do lose your mind for a number of hours
"There was something so pleasant about that place"
It is quite pleasant (or it can be)
"Even your emotions had an echo, In so much space"
This line here is the give away. Anyone who has taken LSD will know what I mean when I say that this describes the effect of LSD quite well. You might not appreciate this if you haven't had LSD before, but it is VERY hard to describe what its like, and this line does so. This would be a strange coincidence if it was describing something else considering the rest of the song fits with the LSD interpretation as well.
"And when you're out there
Without care,
Yeah, I was out of touch"
Self explanatory.
"But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much"
This is another line you might not quite be able to understand if you haven't had LSD. One of the strange things about LSD is that it gives you new (and possibly completely wrong and crazy) insights. It lets you think about concepts and aspects of the world from different and strange angles. You can often realize things about reality that most people don't. This can put you out of touch with most people, like the song says, because of something you do know, not because of something you don't.
"Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Possibly [radio version]
probably [album version]"
Self explanitory
"And I hope that you are having the time of your life
But think twice, that's my only advice
come on now, who do you, who do you, who do you, who do you think you are,
Ha ha ha bless your soul
You really think you're in control"
This verse is basically a 'your playing with fire' style warning about LSD.
"My heroes had the heart to lose their lives out on a limb
And all I remember is thinking, I want to be like them
Ever since I was little, ever since I was little it looked like fun
And it's no coincidence I've come
And I can die when I'm done"
This verse is dealing with the idea of following in the footsteps of a perceived role model. This is a common concept with drug use. The role models he is referring to are most likely musicians at the time of his youth.
anonymous
January 14th, 2009 12:24PM
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yeah it sounds like acid to me, known a couple guys do to much. they think they are a god (if not more powerful) they can pull powers from ppl items the earth the heavens, ect
"I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind" (you do lose your mind if you do to many psychedelics)
"Yeah, I was out of touch (common sense, no one could stop him)
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much" (god like ability)
"Come on now, who do you...think you are? (he is more powerful then anyone, more stable minded)
Ha Ha Ha, bless your soul (god ^^)
You really think you're in control?" (you can talk to ppl who do acid and they all question reality)
"Ever since I was little...oh it looked like fun
And its no concidence I've come
And I can die when I'm done" (just says he knows this is harming him but he is stronger)
the name "crazy" is cuz when u fry your mind from acid you act crazy (you dont see it yourself) but you carry around "trinkets" (most of the times trash) you act unstable (if you know someone before they do alot of acid you can see the changes)
i think this song is all about psychedelics;hallucinogens
anonymous
January 14th, 2009 12:28PM
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If you dont think this song it about drugs then you are the crazy one... where do u go to feel a emotional echo? if its not a psychedelic, what is it?
anonymous
July 16th, 2009 05:33AM
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To the people referring to the interview, he may have said it was the discussion that lead him to write the song but the actual lyrics most likely came from his experience with drug use, something he could actual relate too when talking about the feelings of being crazy.
I remember tripping balls on mushrooms and thinking to myself this must be what mental patience must feel like all the time.
anonymous
July 29th, 2009 12:18PM
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I do not think that this song is about drugs. I think this song is about war. When i heard this song, I could imagine a scene of war when a soldier was looking around and realizing jusy how bad war is. At first, he wanted to be like his heroes and defend his country. he wanted to be considered brave and heroic. But when he got in the war and he saw death all around him, he realized he was wrong. Civilians think that war is a game and they don't take it seroiusly. A soldier would think the same thing before he started fighting in the war. But when he realizes exactly what he's doing is killing men and watching men get killed, he thinks that the world is crazy. He was crazy for going to fight.
anonymous
July 29th, 2009 12:21PM
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Another interpretation for the song Crazy with a war theme is that a veteran is looking back on the days when he was in the war, and he realized it was not worth it. The setting of the battlefields made him lose his mind. He might have lost a friend in the war, and maybe he was wounded both mentally and physically. It's really sad. THe song could be a warning to a future generation about war.
anonymous
September 6th, 2009 01:27AM
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I agree this song is not about drugs but rather about so many others' belief in objective reality. We always (AFAIK) start life believing in laws of nature, and that there is an objective morality: some type of fail-safe science in life. Barkley comes in as an absurdist ("post-nihilist" philosophy), arguing that our beliefs are all absurd and unfounded, since "objective reality" is all open to interpretation, and since all we ultimately have is one mind (really, we can't even prove other minds exist. I think therefor I am, but what about you? Should I take your word for it?), everything we "know" is always subjective. Anything we believe is crazy. You could argue all I've posted are a bunch of claims and unprovable theories, which I agree with, but it only further makes the case for Absurdism. Our purpose is open to interpretation: our will to change anything, our will to live, our will to power, is all absurd. Before that realization that our existence is absurd, it was very comforting to know that our work objectively meant something, whether it was glorifying God, our ideals, or just ourselves. But once we do have that realization, we must wonder... why DO we work to accomplish goals? Probably because we're crazy.
anonymous
September 26th, 2009 06:56PM
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It appears very simple to me. The song's meaning is about loosing your innocence. It's a generic form of interpretation.
anonymous
October 15th, 2009 08:45AM
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This isn't about drugs. It's about the vast, overflowing space when there is no mind. Drugs are one way to get there and meditation is another. Who knows which path Gnarls took? If it was with drugs, his experience is over when the drug is gone. If through meditation, this is forever.
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