Released: 2023
‘Stay High’ by Diplo, featuring HUGEL and Julia Church, is a poignant country song about the struggle to overcome heartbreak. The lyrics paint a picture of someone using escapism to cope with the pain of a lost love.
‘I gotta stay high all the time / To keep you off my mind’ is a stark admission of using substances to distract from the pain of a past relationship. It’s a familiar theme in country music, symbolizing the desperate attempt to escape emotional distress.
‘Staying in my play-pretend / Where the fun ain’t got no end’ suggests the act of immersing oneself in a fantasy world to avoid confronting reality. The ‘fun’ here likely refers to the distractions used to keep thoughts of the past relationship at bay.
‘Can’t go home alone again / Need someone to numb the pain’ is a cry for companionship, indicating a fear of solitude and a desire for someone to alleviate the heartache.
‘You’re gone, and I gotta stay high all the time / To keep you off my mind’ is a recurring line, emphasizing the struggle to forget the past lover. The repetition amplifies the sense of desperation and longing.
In essence, ‘Stay High’ is a heartfelt depiction of the difficulty of moving on after a break-up. It’s a raw and honest exploration of the lengths one might go to avoid the pain of heartbreak.
