Dope Lovers - lyric interpretation
more lyric interpretations&appreciation posts
You're smiling, I'm sorry
I assume that this is directed at Mito by Ian. Maybe he means ‘sorry it has to be this way’? (i’m not very sure tho)
she, the love interest, is just kinda along for the ride without any particular direction
When I live, you're dying
The way I read this, it’s like: While Ian gets to live mostly happy memories and experiences, Mito is stuck having to deal with the more difficult memories and symptoms
When I'm falling, you fall in
I wonder if falling refers to falling from one’s ‘high’/manic state, feeling like you are falling down, or even connects the concept of falling in other works of his (ex: “i fall from you”-no blueberries, “and the stars begin to fall” -seraph, mito falling in the seraph mv/miito film)
ian said that “dope lovers” is meant to symbolize an addictive love and “a love that you give to yourself” (210313 instagram live)
“you’d say” confuses me for the fact I can’t tell who the “you” is referring to in this context
No number, I like your face
I genuinely have no fucking clue what this could mean-
I'm just here for two Lying next to you
The double meaning (no pun intended) is phenomenal here. Essentially telling the love interest that it’s just them two and he’s tooooottaaallllly 100% not hiding anything (/sarcasm).
So gone to the point I can't believe This was all from a kiss
I interpreted “so gone” as either ‘so lost in love’ or as dissociation
Possibly, the kiss could be a positive trigger?
I think Ian saying this twice could be a way of saying the message to both the love interest, and Mito.
Maybe he’s surprised the girl stuck around and still loves him. That even though he periodically isolates himself without much explanation and she ends up feeling less loved, she still chooses to stay in the relationship.
Maybe this was one of the first times Mito stuck around when bad experiences weren’t occurring. Like usually it would be Ian experiencing a relationship but maybe Mito was able to hang around a little bit for the first time.
REALLY building on the idea of an addictive love
'Cause I just need you now
I feel like this line being sung by Mito lets us, the audience, in on a lot.
If what I said about the lyric “you stayed for this” is true, maybe having a sense of love and safety for the first time became very addictive for Mito.
The other possibility I am considering is that maybe he is jealous and saying this line to Ian.
You're smiling, I'm sorry She's vibin', no compass When I live, you're dying When I'm falling, you fall in
You're smiling, I'm sorry She's vibin', no compass When I live, you're dying When I'm falling, you fall in
….sung by Mito. Having this come right after Ian singing the chorus it builds on an idea that one of them is suffering while the other is struggling less. It also helps the listener understand the unique internal turmoil faced by the members of this system.
You don't think we don't know lovе
sounds like a way of saying ‘you don’t treat us (ian and mito) like we are less capable of love just because we have shit we struggle with’
We can't leave thе question untouched untouched
How many times we laugh through this moment just to hold back
I see this as pretending that everything is fine.
'Cause I think I know that you compromised this
‘you didn’t ask to be in a relationship with someone with the kind of issues that I have’. Maybe in a way he’s saying that she didn’t ask to deal with the complexities and complications of being in a relationship with someone battling with mental illnesses.
'Cause I think you got everything to feel bliss
Everything i read as a way of saying ‘everyone in the system’
'Cause I think I thought you would fall
A lot of times people with mental illnesses can have a hard time accepting that they can be loved without being “too much”. I see this as a ‘i thought you wouldn’t be able to deal with this’
I would've missed, you'd live for this
I can’t tell if this is directed at Mito or the girl/girlfriend and without that, I can’t really give too clear of an answer.
'Cause I just need you now
A dope lover you are A broke lover he was
She’s addictive to someone like Ian and especially Mito.
And he doesn't know she's tired, she's tired
Mito isn’t aware of how much his isolation when he is fronting is affecting the love interest.
A dope lover you are A broke lover he was
And he doesn't know She's tired and you're tired
In addition to not being aware of how his isolation when he is fronting is affecting the love interest, Mito also seems to not be aware or not willing to accept how it’s affecting him/Ian as well.
When you smile you smile She smiles she smiles
I think here we see that Ian is accepting that his girlfriend/love interest loves both of them.
You tried, you tried, to build fires
because i don’t want you to know
because i don’t want you to go
“because i don’t want you to know” “because I don’t want you to go” - They, Ian and Mito, are afraid of being left for something out of their control. And in trying to keep her from leaving, they end up making her feel unloved.
At the beginning of the album, in the song Mito, we get the lyric, “…i’m just tryn’ to stay alive, keep the fire down, don’t want to be alone like yesterday” - which I think has a possibility maybe connecting to “you tried to build fires” and “because i don’t want you go go” (something that i think is unlikely but felt like i should still mention)
“you tried to build fires and no time to go higher” - I HAVE THOUGHTS ON THIS ONE. I see building fires as a way of creating warmth and trying to generate stability whether it be in a relationship or within oneself. During one’s highs, a person could seemingly ‘be on a roll’ and could have endless amounts of motivation, energy, and have ability to do things. During one’s dips, it can be like you have no energy, motivation, or ability to really do anything and everything you’ve been working so hard on emotionally comes crashing down. (Ian has stated that his highs can end by a sudden crash/dip and that is usually what triggers mito to front)
Kind of saying: ‘no matter how hard you try to build stability, the time you have with the ability to do so is limited’
She's tired because it hurts every time
I feel like this one is pretty self explanatory after the other stuff
It hurts everytime the crash/dip happens for everyone involved.
Thank you for reading my personal interpretation of Dope Lovers! I Apologies if it seems a tad scattered (funnily enough it took two of us taking turns to write this)
What are your thoughts on the lyrics? Is there anything I missed or anything I could add?
