When you take those two lines together, what we see is that loneliness and heartache are so overwhelming no substance can overcome it. In that sense, I think I understand. We all have our “drug” of choice, whether it's a drug or something else. We all have our ways of finding pleasure and avoiding pain. We all medicate ourselves and try to inoculate ourselves against the pain that living brings (thanks, Bruce!). Sometimes, life hurts us in a way that it feels like nothing can touch it. Even if we're lucid enough to know better, in those dark, dark moments it feels like nothing is ever going to feel okay again.
In those moments of agony it's easy to get pretty jaded and fatalistic, which brings us to the song's refrain: “I'm lookin' up for the next thing that brings me down.” Lynne has moved past the inevitable point when this hurt might ease, preparing herself for the other shoe to drop on her happiness, bringing her back to a time when she'll be sitting in a chair, talking to herself “taking a breath of a feeling that once lived in this house.” The landscape of pop music is forever grayed by the smog of songs about love's loss. Very few of them paint that portrait better than “Lookin' Up.”
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
glad i could be of service.
gee, i hope the riaa doesn't come lookin' for me.
2 - Josh Hathaway
There is no honor among thieves. I'll drop a dime on you in a hurry, Bucko.