Comfortably Numb
david bowie and nine inch nails Lyrics

Hello
The singer tries to establish contact and asks if anyone is present.

Is there anybody in there?
He wants to know if there's anyone he can talk to.

Just nod if you can hear me
He's requesting a non-verbal response.

Is there anyone at home?
He's curious if anyone is present, at all.

Come on, now
He's urging someone to be honest and open up.

I hear you're feeling down
He's perceiving that the other person is unhappy.

Well I can ease your pain
The singer assures that he can help the listener.

Get you on your feet again
He can help the listener through their struggle and get them back to normalcy.

Relax
He wants the other person to be calm and composed.

I need some information first
He wants to know more about what's troubling the other person.

Just the basic facts
He wants the listener to provide general details, so they can start from the beginning.

Can you show me where it hurts?
He knows that the listener is in pain, and wants to know where the pain is coming from.

There is no pain, you are receding
The singer notices the pain subsiding.

A distant ship's smoke on the horizon
The pain is becoming increasingly farther away, like a ship on the horizon.

You are only coming through in waves
The listener's connection is patchy, like sound waves.

Your lips move but I can't hear what you're sayin'
The listener isn't communicating clearly.

When I was a child, I had a fever
The artist is reminiscing about his past.

My hands felt just like two balloons
His hands were swollen and pressure-filled, just like balloons at a fair carnival.

Now I've got that feeling once again
The pain he felt back then is resurfacing in a small way.

I can't explain, you would not understand
The artist can't express what he's feeling, and even if he did, the other person wouldn't quite know what he's talking about.

This is not how I am
He's not normally someone who's apathetic, which is why it's difficult for him to express his feelings.

I have become comfortably numb
The artist has become accustomed to feeling as though he's disconnected from reality.

Ok
The singer says that things will be okay.

Just a little pinprick
He's giving a metaphorical description of a medical procedure.

There'll be no more (aaaaaahhhhh!)
The listener will no longer be in pain.

But you may feel a little sick
He's warning the listener to be aware of any side effects.

Can you stand up?
The singer wants to see if the listener is able to stand up on their own.

I do believe it's working. good
The procedure has been successful, so far.

That'll keep you going for the show
The artist's making sure the listener can actually enjoy what they came to see.

Come on it's time to go
It's time to leave and return to reality.

When I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse
The singer is reflecting on his youth again.

Out of the corner of my eye
He saw something out of the corner of his eye.

I turned to look but it was gone
He tried to see what it was but it disappeared.

I cannot put my finger on it now
He can't remember what he saw, but it's still in his mind.

The child is grown, the dream is gone
He's an adult now, and the thing he saw is probably long gone, if it ever existed.

And I have become comfortably numb
The artist repeats himself to emphasize his feeling of detachment from the real world.