My Heroine

Silverstein

The drugs begin to peak
A smile of joy arrives in me
But sedation changes to panic and nausea
And breath starts to shorten
And heartbeats pound softer
You won't try to save me!
You just want to hurt me and leave me desperate!

You taught my heart, a sense I never knew I had.
I can't forget, the times that I was
Lost and depressed from the awful truth
How do you do it?
You're my heroine!

You won't leave me alone!
Chisel my heart out of stone, I give in every time.

You taught my heart, a sense I never knew I had
I can't forget, the times that I was
Lost and depressed from the awful truth
How do you do it?
You're my heroine!

I bet you laugh, at the thought of me thinking for myself (myself).
I bet you believe, that I'm better off with you than someone else.

Your face arrives again, all hope I had becomes surreal.
But under your covers more torture than pleasure
And just past your lips there's more anger than laughter
Not now or forever will I ever change you
I know that to go on, I'll break you, my habit!

You taught my heart, a sense I never knew I had.
I can forget, the times that I was
Lost and depressed from the awful truth
How do you do it?
You're my heroine!

I will save myself!

"My Heroine" is one of my favorite songs by Silverstein, especially the acoustic version (shown above) because I feel like it conveys more emotion. The song uses a play on words, with heroine being a female hero and heroin being a drug. The singer is singing about what he's going through with his heroine, which relates to the withdrawal symptoms of heroin. "The drugs begin to peak / A smile of joy arrives in me" describes how someone first feels when they shoot up heroin, as well as how the singer feels around his heroine, who we can presume is a girlfriend or ex-girlfriend. They get the high and become happy, however next we see "But sedation changes to panic and nausea / And breath starts to shorten / And heartbeats pound softer", showing how the high doesn't last, quickly changing into a freak out state and feeling sick. Next we hear "You won't try to save me / you just want to hurt me, and leave me desperate", which relates the girl and heroin again, showing that neither of them is good for the singer, as they only bring hurt. "You won't leave me alone / chisel my heart out of stone, I give in every time" shows the singer's addiction. When he says the heroine won't leave him alone, it's proof that she's always on his mind, while the part about giving in every time tells us that he succumbs to what she wants him to do every time he's around her. After the chorus is repeated, we hear "I bet you laugh, at the thought of me thinking for myself / I bet you believe, that I'm better off with you than someone else", which is the singer saying that the heroine thinks that he can't live without her. The chorus is then repeated, followed by another verse which has the singer realizing how badly he needs to give up on his heroine. First, he thinks he finally has her but is then treated the same way he always has been, as seen in the line "Your face arrives again, all hope I had becomes surreal / But under your covers more torture than pleasure / And just past your lips there's more anger than laughter". He then realizes that it is a vicious cycle and that he must give up on her, saying "Not now or forever will I ever change you / I know that to go on, I'll break you, my habit!" Then he restates the chorus, finishing off with a rather intense "I will save myself" that once again shows that he's decided to give up on the girl. This is a very powerful song, that I believe anyone who's been a complete fool for someone can relate to. It proves that wanting someone who treats you poorly can be just as destructive as an addiction to a dangerous drug, such as heroin.