Dead and Bloated, Stone Temple Pilots, 1992
For me, being a lifelong music lover means I have personal anthems. I used to refer to them as "walk-up" songs but they're so much more than that.
Dead and Bloated is my go-to "don't want to do this today" anthem most commonly summoned on Monday mornings as I'm unlocking the door at work. Dead and Bloated has served me in this way pretty much since I first heard it on Core some 28 years ago. Yesterday, Dead and Bloated expanded to my "don't want to celebrate turning 50" anthem.
This is the line that's forever my "I don't want to do this but I have to" mantra: I am smelling like a rose somebody gave me on my birthday deathbed. I literally mutter this line to myself all the time. It's true, I don't know exactly what Weiland (and company) intended as it's meaning ... he's known to have said it doesn't mean anything -- that it's just a stream of consciousness. For me, though, this line has so much meaning. I feel the line is a defiant proclamation, then there's the powerful punch of the heavy, strong guitar riff that follows to lift the phrase to anthem status.
This song is all about life being so short. Sure, a rose in full bloom is beautiful but that peak experience is very limited and is also the rose dieing. Time marches on ... every life cycle ends. Each birthday is just another rotation closer to your deathbed. There's a peace that comes with acceptance of things we truly cannot change ... like stupid birthdays. This song helps me keep perspective.
https://youtu.be/MdCEPhNBnrM
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