Hello Newgrounds!

I haven't posted anything in a while, but believe me, I have a LOT in the works right now. My projects folder is populated with at least three more items that are going to be as fully fleshed out as this one, disregarding all the hundreds I'm scrapping.

Fun fact about this song, I made it as my final project in a class about music production. One thing about this class is that we have only been using Ableton, an unfamiliar DAW to me. As you may know, I use FL Studio to do my work most of the time, so this project challenged me somewhat. I will say, I'm learning to be fond of Ableton and I may very well include it in my workflow from now on. What I'm showing you today was almost entirely made in Ableton, I only took it into FL Studio to do the last bit of mastering.

Something I've come to realize about those in my life, and people in general to an extent, is that when you're struggling and need help, most will offer you little more than sympathy. Folks will see others having a crisis, struggling through some feelings, being behind in life, etc, and the vast majority of the time that confrontation is met with no more than a sympathetic gesture. The normal response to seeing a fellow human in crisis or in need is basically to ignore them. How awful is that?

You don't even have to be going through anything in particular, sometimes you just don't look or act "right" so people treat you with the same cautious avoidance and pity that they'd otherwise reserve for someone they perceive as potentially dangerous. I have made friends with people who see me as a savior angel because I make time for them when nobody else does. It is not that difficult to extend a helping hand to somebody that you don't know. Frankly, the fact that so many people have nobody willing to do that for them at all is terrifying.

I originally conceived of this song while thinking of my parents' inability to reserve time or effort for me, but I quickly realized that this is a broad societal phenomenon. Maybe it's a product of our individualist culture putting so much weight on doing things yourself, perhaps it's all the propaganda we're fed vilifying people who struggle, maybe it's the fact that everyone is so burnt out all the goddamn time they have no more motivation to be a human being. Who knows.

Often times what someone needs during a crisis or an episode (someone to connect with, medication, a grounding exercise, etc.) is rather easy to provide, much like pulling something off a carabiner. What they frequently do not need is empty sympathy. I imagine that people act this way because it makes them feel less like an asshole for being completely unhelpful.

This song is written from my perspective and experience, yes, but it's sensible to read it from the perspective of really anyone who's been given the short end of this sympathy stick. If you take anything from this piece, let it be this: Fucking help people, even when it's uncomfortable. If you do that, you will become more important than you could ever know to more people than you can fathom.

Lyrics:

~~~~~~~~~~

You held the cure

On your carabiner

So close yet I'm never gonna ask

Clutching your pearls

You shut every single door

Now my therapist tells me I should drop the mask

(Sympathy)

Please

I don't need your sympathy

You take my hand then you throw me to the ground

Shame

Nothing's fucking harmless when your life's a debt to pay

So pack it up and put your tainted sympathy away

What's more upsetting than mistakes you make not knowing why

You're still forgetting all the things that plague me in my mind

There's something wrong with me yeah

You think I couldn't tell

I collect like trading cards

Aversions keeping me locked in hell

(Sympathy)

Please

I don't need your sympathy

You take my hand then you throw me to the ground

Shame

Nothing's fucking harmless when your life's a debt to pay

So pack it up and put your tainted sympathy away

~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for listening!

-M⅄YA DYNAMIC