Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Behind the catchy, upbeat “Semi-Charmed” melody that entranced many a tween when it was released in 1997 is a dark tale of a relationship’s descent into crystal meth addiction.
The song was released as the lead single from their debut album in February 1997.
[Refrain]
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo
[Verse 1]
I'm packed and I'm holding, I'm smiling
She's living, she's golden, she lives for me
Says she lives for me
Ovation, her own motivation
She comes 'round and she goes down on me
And I make her smile like a drug for you
Do ever what you want to do, coming over you
Keep on smiling what we go through
One stop to the rhythm that divides you
[Pre-Chorus]
And I speak to you like the chorus to the verse
Chop another line like a coda with a curse
Come on like a freak show, takes the stage
We give them the games we play, she say
[Chorus]
I want something else
To get me through this
Semi-charmed kind of life, baby, baby
I want something else
I'm not listening when you say
Goodbye
[Refrain]
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo
[Verse 2]
The sky was gold, it was rose
I was taking sips up into my nose
And I wish I could get back there, some place back there
Smiling in the pictures you would take
Doing crystal meth will lift you up until you break
It won't stop, I won't come down, I keep stock
With a tick-tock rhythm, a bump for the drop
And then I bumped up, I took the hit that I was given
Then I bumped again, then I bumped again, I said
[Pre-Chorus]
How do I get back there
To the place where I fell asleep inside you?
How do I get myself back to
The place where you said
[Chorus]
I want something else
To get me through this
Semi-charmed kind of life, baby, baby
I want something else
I'm not listening when you say
Goodbye
[Bridge]
I believe in the sand beneath my toes
The beach gives a feeling, an earthy feeling
I believe in the faith that grows
And the four right chords can make me cry
When I'm with you I feel like I could die
And that would be alright, alright
And when the plane came in, she said she was crashing
The velvet it rips in the city
We tripped on the urge to feel alive
But now I'm struggling to survive
Those days you were wearing that velvet dress
You're the priestess, I must confess
Those little red panties, they pass the test
So slide up 'round the belly face down on the mattress one
And you hold me
And we are broken
Still it's all that I want to do, just a little now
Feel myself hovering off the ground
I'm scared, I'm not coming down
No, no
And I won't run for my life
She's got her jaws now locked down in a smile
But nothing is alright, alright
[Chorus]
And I want something else
To get me through this life, baby
I want something else
Not listening when you say
Goodbye, goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye
[Refrain]
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
[Outro]
The sky was gold, it was rose
I was taking sips up into my nose
And I wish I could get back there, some place back there
In the place we used to start our lives
[Refrain]
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
(I want something else)
Semi-Charmed Life was written by Kevin Cadogan & Arion Salazar & Stephan Jenkins.
Semi-Charmed Life was produced by Eric Valentine.
Third Eye Blind released Semi-Charmed Life on Tue Jun 17 1997.
“Bright and shiny on the surface, and then it just pulls you down in this lockjawed mess … The music that I wrote for it is not intended to be bright and shiny for bright and shiny’s sake. It’s intended to be what the seductiveness of speed is like, represented in music.” -Stephan Jenkins
Billboard...
Stephan Jenkins, the front man for Third Eye Blind, described the song as a San Francisco version of Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side”, he told Billboard:
It’s a dirty, filthy song about snorting speed and getting blow jobs…It really is funny that people play it on the radio. The title “Semi-Charm...