Akhil Alugupalli

10 October 2018

Professor Henderson

Addicted

Words: 1234

Demi Lovato’s display of true human emotion in “Sober”, calls to attention the personal

struggles of a addict and their ongoing path to being sober. “Sober” bases itself in the present

world, where the road to recovery is a rocky one. Drug abuse is something that has plagued and

continues to plague many members of our society. Drug abuse not only affects the addicts, but it

affects the people close to them as well. Drugs have taken control over the lives of these addicts

and they no longer can function normally as a part of society or even in their families. Demi

Lovato’s method of appealing to emotion within the context of her relapsing from being sober,

resulted in achieving the goal of bringing to attention the present issue of drug addiction.

The song carries the melody of a soft-soothing sound, coupled with Lovato’s somber but

truly honest voice. Lovato specifically in the song, appearing to be directed to her mother and

father, says sorry for not being sober. She stresses that her addiction cannot be controlled by

simple factors. She cannot explain why she does it and why she cannot physically stop. Deeper

analysis can quickly show that those factors are not as clear as one might think or might like to

think. There is a scientific explanation to what Lovato is saying, and that is due to the pain

receptors that opioids and other drugs interact with. It is general knowledge that addiction is a

disease, and the best way to stop it is to prevent it and help those with it. We cannot simply
blame the addict for their problems and move on. Lovato uses the commonplace of being human

throughout her song. She sings that she strives to be a role model but she is also human. By

Lovato opening up deeply about her addiction and discussing the fact that she is human, she

comes down to the level with her audience, who otherwise always viewed Lovato solely on what

the news said and what was on the “big screen”. Her emotional feelings being expressed in her

lyrics serve to allow the audience to rethink how they view addiction, especially due to Lovato

being an example. Unfortunately, addiction has a bit of a taboo place in society; no one wants to

talk about it due to its uniquely negative effect on humans within society. By the definition of it

being a uniquely negative effect, is that addiction is one of few human diseases where the

damage is inflicted by the user rather than nature. Therefore taking a quick walk down through

any major US city, one can see that many people look down on addicts in the streets blaming the

addict on their addiction. With this mindset, as a society we will never progress. It only takes one

person to help someone get the help they need and change their lives.

Lovato utilizes her more detailed personal lyrics to again appeal to the emotional nature

of humans, when she apologizes for all the drinks spilled on the floor. In this, Lovato is alluding

to how when she took drugs, she lost most of her inhibitions and was not likely to control herself.

In a deeper context, by her repeated spills it is directed to the ones most close to Lovato, as she

states that they have been down that road before. This alludes to the fact that she has relapsed

multiple times. Demi Lovato is at her lowest and softest singing note here as she aims to have

this be the most honest and genuine aura to underline her apologies in her song. These all come

together where her lyrics achieve her goal to be as genuine as she can to her friends and family.

The big underlying theme is that though she is sorry that she has relapsed, she still feels lost in
her addiction. However, she ensures to convey that she will go back to rehabilitation to get back

on her path to being sober.

The main and largest audience that Lovato appeals to is her millions of devout fans

around the globe. These fans range in age from kids all the way to grown adults. She uses her

platform with her music in order to bring this message to her viewers, not to use drugs. She does

this in her song in a few different ways. Lovato again, similar in her emotional appeal to her

close family, she begins to bring up to her fanbase that they too have also been down this path

before. She directly says sorry to her fans and how she lost them by falling again. When she

sings in the portion to her fans, she connects the cultural ideology of a career fall to her fall at the

hands of the strong forces of addiction. This concept that Lovato brings up further exemplifies

the idea of relapsing and how easy it is to relapse. Lovato wants to relay the message to her fans,

especially her younger ones with an example of how a lot of positive work and progress can all

begin to tumble and crash down with drugs. By Lovato defining and describing her feelings of

being addicted to drugs, a listener of her song can understand the disease at a more effective

level. She specifically sings about how she wants to just cave and not fight. But regardless of it

she continues to try, try, try, but with no avail. At the end of the day through her personal details

and feelings, Lovato aims to show that the body makes its own rules and one loses control of

themselves once they are hooked on drugs.

Demi Lovato’s unique technique of appealing to the natural emotion in humans,

specifically her audience and fans within the context of her relapsing from being sober, resulted

in Lovato achieving the goal of bringing to attention the present issue of drug addiction. She

utilizes many factors that all come together to achieve the goal of bringing drug addiction and its
effect to the spotlight. The main idea and setting of the song is built around a commonplace,

which is being human. Lovato comes down to the level of one of her individual fans, when she

deeply talks about her addiction. The whole duration of the song, one can feel the backbone of it

pointing to the underlying theme of the epidemic of drug addiction. Lovato strengthens this

backbone by bringing in more commonplaces, such as ones parents, loved ones, and supporters.

In its essence, all three of these types of people in ones life have a tremendous meaning to them.

Therefore, Lovato increases her effectiveness by directing her genuine lyrics to these types of

people in her life. Her parents, her loved ones and friends, and her loyal fans. In “Sober”, as an

addict, Lovato uses the strength of her stature and story to exemplify her struggle with drugs.

Drug abuse is something that has plagued and will continue to plague our society. But time will

tell, and together as a society we will continue to be called upon to keep supporting and helping

those in need struggling with addiction. Overall, Demi Lovato’s heartfelt and emotional

testimony to her battle with drug addiction in “Sober”, pushes to elevate the personal battle of

the addict, to a mainstream battle where the addict is not alone.

Original Song: “Sober” by Demi Lovato

Island Records, and UMG Recordings, Inc.

Demi Lovato - Sober

[Verse 1]

I got no excuses for all of these goodbyes

Call me when it's over 'cause I'm dying inside

Wake me when the shakes are gone

And the cold sweats disappear

Call me when it's over and myself has reappeared

[Pre-Chorus]

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know why

I do it every, every, every time

It's only when I'm lonely

Sometimes I just wanna cave and I don't wanna fight

I try and I try and I try and I try and I try

Just hold me, I'm lonely

[Chorus]

Momma, I'm so sorry, I'm not sober anymore

And daddy, please forgive me for the drinks spilled on the floor

To the ones who never left me, we've been down this road before

I'm so sorry, I'm not sober anymore

[Verse 2]

I'm sorry to my future love for the man that left my bed
For making love the way I saved for you inside my head

And I'm sorry for the fans I lost who watched me fall again

I wanna be a role model, but I'm only human

[Pre-Chorus]

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know why

I do it every, every, every time

It's only when I'm lonely

Sometimes I just wanna cave and I don't wanna fight

I try and I try and I try and I try and I try

Just hold me, I'm lonely

[Chorus]

Momma, I'm so sorry, I'm not sober anymore

And daddy, please forgive me for the drinks spilled on the floor

To the ones who never left me, we've been down this road before

I'm so sorry, I'm not sober anymore

I’m not sober anymore

[Outro]

I'm sorry that I'm here again, I promise I'll get help

It wasn't my intention, I'm sorry to myself