Battle of Someone
Recorded by Blues Traveler on the album Straight On Till Morning
Words and music by John Popper


Well I love no one and I don't care who knows
Don't care if you're far away
Don't give a damn if you're close
I'm the vacant distraction of a broken old man
I lack shape or color
Not even gray or even tan
I'd hate all I see but it makes me too tired
I'm much more at home when left uninspired
So damn me to hell and resist if you must
But lower your eyes once and I'll emerge from the dust

For I am nothing
Yes I am nothing
Yes I am nothing
And I love no one

Well I love everyone I am filled with delight
I understand all your feelings I don't see from wrong or right
I'm the look in your eyes when you're telling the truth
I'm the wisdom of age and the beauty of youth
I am shape substance color darkest black palest white
Speckled gold ringing mirror sharp soft and bright
I'm rage passion laughter and the need to know why
Come sample all my riches I'm pure stimuli

For I am everything
Yes I am everything
Yes I am everything
And I love everyone

Well I can only love someone I am just a person
My father loved my mother and I am her son
The preceding verses are the halves of my soul
I'm just the battlefield and that is my role
There's a tug of war between what I can and can't feel
The inevitable compromise determines the real
The equation the reason for my being here
The struggle resulting in my invention of the tear

For I'm only something
Yes I'm only something
Yes I'm only something
And I can only love someone

And it's the best I can do
It's the very best I can do
You're probably someone too
So perhaps I love you
Perhaps you'll love me too
Perhaps you'll love me too
Perhaps you'll love me too
(scat solo)

For those unfamiliar with the sound of Blues Traveler, this is a harmonica and guitar type band - some reviewers have called it a "jam band". There is a bit of 'funk' to it, with a distinct blues feeling. Rarely is there anything that is 'rock' feel, and the music such that it compliments the words (which can be cleanly heard) well.

This particular song first appeared at a Wasabi (a super group formed of Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors, and Authority) show late in 1993. Supposedly, during one of the long jams, John was singing the words over whatever music was being produced. It took another 3 years for the tune and words to come together as Battle of Someone. The recording found includes guest keyboard player John Medeski. The song fits between a bit rougher song Great Big World and is followed by the melodic song Most Precarious. Similarly, it fits between the lyrics of Great Big World

And it's a great big world calling you to take a ride
And it's a great big world singing come and see and come inside
Oh yeah a great big world reminding you you're not alone
So hold on this great big world we only get to rent we never get to own
and the lyrics of Most Precarious
Please understand and hear what I'm saying
The time is now and you don't have long
She could be oceans away tomorrow
So soon your chance will have come and gone
So soon your chance will have come and gone

Battle of Someone has three distinct parts to it - the song of "a broken old man" who is nothing and blends into the crowds; the song of "everything" - happy and glad; and lastly the song of someone who recognizes the two parts within himself. Musicaly, these verses are very similar, with only a small building between verse and verse - while the lyrics have three distinct parts, the melody of the song blends together into a single whole.

John Popper said the following about the song:

It's a battle of someone's soul, a battle between all that you can feel and all that you can't feel. The first verse is about the person...that doesn't feel things; you hate all you see but it makes you too tired. The second verse is about everything, all that life brings you, all the feelings you can have, all the love you can have, all the rage you can feel, all the laughter...The third verse, that's the compromise -- I'm only someone, I am just a person, I don't love everyone, but I can love some people. So it's kind of about people compromising between all the connections that life offers you, and the lack of them. I don't really believe in a good or evil. I don't hold one as better or worse.

A similar (though certainly not the same) division within the psyche was recognized by Freud in his development of the Id, Ego, and Superego. The second verse is similar to that of the Id - seeking pleasure, unable to see wrong from right, wanting to be stimulated, the source of many of the emotions felt.

The first verse, rather than being more similar to the Ego or Superego is closer to the Thantos drive that Freud proposed. According to Freud, all that we do is driven by either Eros (the desire to live, proper, and produce offspring) or Thantos (aggression, need to stay alive and avoid threats to our existence).

The last verse is that of the Ego - recognizing the need for balance between both the Id (pleasure) and the Superego (morals) along with the need for balance between Eros and Thantos. Hence, the last verse of the song:

The preceding verses are the halves of my soul
I'm just the battlefield and that is my role
There's a tug of war between what I can and can't feel
The inevitable compromise determines the real
The equation the reason for my being here
The struggle resulting in my invention of the tear


http://www.bluestraveler.net/songs/SOTM/9.html
http://www.bluestraveler.net/lyrics/sotm/9.html
http://allpsych.com/psychology101/ego.html