That's the opening line to the Smashing Pumpkins' song " Bullet with Butterfly Wings." It's the only song I like from the Smashing Pumpkins. I think because I saw the video or something or I liked the title. I don't know. I do know that I'm not a huge fan of the Pumpkins, the main reason being I can't stand Billy Corgan's singing voice. Never acquired the taste. Anyways, statement up there. It's so true. Let's take this in pieces shall we.
Obvious component of the analogy is VAMPIRE. I've always had a thing for vampires. Not sure why but they fascinate me. Every Halloween for a while I was a vampire. Don't get me wrong the whole drinking blood deal is kind of awkward. But since Twilight has introduced this concept of "vegetarian" vampires (only going after animals, which is what we eat anyway), they are re-fascinating. Throw in immortality, becoming absolutely gorgeous, super-human strength and speed plus ridiculously heightened senses. Totally worth it. Anyways, back to original discussion. Vampires suck the life out of a living creature, human, animal, jellyfish, whatever. This can happen one of two ways. The most commonly known drinking of blood, obviously essential to existence, vamp or not. The second, not so commonly known at all, is feeding off of one's emotional energy. Not really sure how that works. I think I knew about it once upon a time, in a land far away, but no más. You can Google it if you're curious and find out about it. OK that covers the vampire part. Next is the world part. What constitutes the "world?" I think it's safe to say we are not talking about the physical being that is Earth. If we were then people would be the vampires so to speak as far as sucking the life out of the Earth, which we do. So this can only mean that the "world" is the collective human species. Not just people themselves but all of the stuff that we have brought about whilst in existence.
The world has and always will be a very draining place to be. I think it is getting even more so over time because now we have the technology and ability to be informed and to an extent bear witness to many many things that happen all over the world. We used to just get our information from periodicals, which still offer a degree of feeling removed from the situation if it's not happening down the street, and word of mouth; if we take a page from the beloved game Telephone we know that by the time we get the story it's changed 47 times and very loosely resembles the original. But especially in this country, we can't claim that we know nothing, that there was no way we could have found out. Unless you live under a rock, in a cave, in the middle of the desert with no TV, radio, internet access or social interaction of any kind, you can't claim ignorance. Having all sorts of national, international, social, humanitarian and environmental issues being brought to our attention is tiring. It's even more so draining when when our "I wanna do something about this" drive kicks in but we can't because we don't know where to start etc. And as if being bothered and thinking about all of the world's problems isn't enough, let's not forget ourselves and those that we hold dear.
It saddens me when I talk to my friends, or when I feel it myself, and they are drained, tired and utterly exhausted in every way this side of Monday. When they feel like the life is literally being sucked out of them because they have a heart and soul. Unfortunately, it's inevitable. If you have just an ounce of humanity in you, you can't help but give of yourself to those around you. Life requires it of you. Beliefs require it of you. Sometimes, depending on your field, your job requires it of you. Life is tiring, unfortunately. There's no avoiding it completely unless you decide that you're just going to commune with rocks, trees and a cave monkey. This is why we're meant to commune with each other. So that there is a balance between the giving of one's self and the receiving from another. I could on and on about that but I shall refrain. So taking into account the whole of society, the everyday ongoing predicament that is one's own life and all of those other people that are essential to one's survival in this world, I think it's safe to say that the Pumpkins have it right.
The world is a vampire.
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