Just over five months ago, Avicii was found dead in a hotel room and is death has since been called a suicide. Ever since, the music community has done everything they can to pay tribute to the DJ who inspired so many. Tim Bergling, as he was known to those closest to him, struggled with thoughts about meaning and happiness. He suffered from severe stress and mental health problems which caused him to stop touring. Tim was just 28 when he took his own life.
I still remember his first hit, “Levels” coming out in 2011 followed by so many more hits. So many of the DJs and producers that I listen to today mention Avicii as one of their biggest influences so I owe so much of my music taste to him. I wanted to take today to dive into Avicii’s best performing song that many will know. I’m of course talking about “Wake Me Up.” This song was a chart topping hit because of how catchy it is but when you look closely you realize just how powerful those lyrics sung by Aloe Blacc can be…
“Feeling my way through the darkness / Guided by a beating heart”
The song starts with just an absolute banger of a lyric. Life is a journey and often the best thing to do is follow your heart. Take a risk and throw caution to the wind. Stop worrying about the destination and enjoy the journey.
“They say I’m caught up in a dream / Well life will pass me by if I don’t open my eyes / Well that’s fine by me”
Dream, dream and never stop dreaming. It is not a waste of time. Dreams can come true and they help you escape from reality at the very least. We need to hold onto and follow our dreams.
“So wake me up when it’s all over / When I’m wiser and I’m older / All this time I was finding myself / And I didn’t know I was lost”
So this is the chorus and I honestly think this is the most powerful part of the song. What’s essentially being said is that you learn the most about yourself when you are least expecting it. The only way to truly understand life is to live it. Don’t let life pass you by without embracing the present. You will learn so much about life and yourself.
“I tried carrying the weight of the world / But I only have two hands”
Pretty self explanatory here to be honest. You can only worry about so much. Don’t try to carry others burdens or worry about their dreams as your first priority. If you do this, you’re destined to fail.
“Hope I get a chance to travel the world / But I don’t have any plans”
Now this has become my mindset. I have so many hopes and dreams for my life but the best thing I can do is go with the flow and play the cards life deals me. Doing anything else causes unneeded stress and worry. When in a situation you can’t control the best thing to do is to keep your eyes fixed on the dream, relax, and enjoy the journey.
Guys I seriously love this song and I seriously love Avicii. His music is so good. I really just wanted to take this Monday to talk about some of these fantastic lyrics. I love the focus on dreaming in this song because I think sometimes this idea can be so lost. We get so fixated on goals and plans and “being realistic.” Why not shoot big? Why not have dreams? When everything seems out of our control, sometimes our dreams can make reality a little bit better.