so here’s a patti smith song called “dancing barefoot” and for a long time i thought she was singing about heroin. i mean, the drug. it made sense to me because, you know, it’s patti smith, and the 70s, and the whole vibe of the song felt like… that.
but then i learned she was actually singing “heroine” with an “e”, meaning a female hero. and suddenly the whole song felt different.
the misheard lyric
this small mistake made me think about something bigger. is love actually a drug? the difference is massive, or is it? maybe patti smith was aware of this and was singing about both at the same time.
you know people say things like “i’m addicted to you”, and it’s like saying “i’m addicted to heroin”. so the question is, can we really get addicted to someone? if we can, then it’s technically a drug.
the difference
unlike heroin, love is supposed to build you up. your heroine should be someone who makes you better, who inspires you…
but sometimes love does destroy you, doesn’t it? sometimes the person you love becomes your addiction in the worst way, and your heroine becomes your heroin. you say “i can’t live without you” and you really mean it, and that’s when you know you’re in trouble.
maybe that’s what makes this song so perfect. whether she’s singing about heroin or heroine, it works both ways. because love can be both. you know, some people can die for love, and some people can die from it. never forget that.
a beautiful addiction
so what’s the answer? is love a drug? yeah, probably. but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. it only turns into heroin when you let it.
if you can’t function without someone, if you lose yourself completely in them, if you ignore red flags because the high feels too good… that’s when love becomes heroin instead of heroine.
one last thing
some confusions let you see the world differently. this misheard lyric made me think about the difference between love and addiction, and here we are.
the question is, do you use heroin to escape yourself, or heroine to find yourself? the line is thin, know which one you’re using.
listen to the song again. really listen to it. you’ll hear both meanings at the same time and that’s the beauty of it.