The sky’s the limit for daysormay, one of the best alt discoveries of the year. Let’s get into the meaning of their latest single, “Ego.”
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Listen: “Ego” – daysormay
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A casual psychology review never hurts, so today we’re going to do one at Atwood Magazine as well. We’re talking about Sigmund Freud’s tripartite theory of mind, which is one of the best-known theories in the world of psychological analysis. The philosopher believed that the human psyche is composed of three separate parts that interact with each other: the ego, the id, the superego. Let’s forget complicated explanations, and let’s talk about what we’re truly here for: music. Let us introduce you to Vancouver’s daysormay and their single “Ego.”
As you can guess from the title, Freud’s theory of personality inspired the song. The ego, the id, and the superego come together in a song that seems almost a dialogue between them as if they were three different people forced to live under the same roof.
In every human being, the id comes to life first. Id is pure primal instinct, the need to satisfy your impulses immediately. A bit like newborn babies, a bit like the intrusive thoughts that sometimes randomly spring to mind. The id is illogical, selfish. It is what makes you say, “I might just test the waters, I might just pull out my hair / I might just pretend to be evil, see if anybody would care.“
Obviously, the id must be kept under control. Otherwise, life would be a succession of illogical actions dictated by even less rational impulses. Then ego and superego intervene, in order to make the individual socially acceptable, refine the ego, and turn its raw desire to conformity.
Ego still pursues the pleasures but in a rational way, becoming aware of reality. It’s self-sustaining, glory-obtaining, the itch on your brain.
Finally, we find the superego, the moral compass of the group. It knows how to distinguish right from wrong (unlike ego, which doesn’t even consider it). It gives life to our sense of guilt, it incites us to follow the rules. Maybe the mood breaker of the trio, but a strictly necessary one, because either we obey the world or we meet our demises.
It’s not a coincidence that we’re quoting several times the lyrics of “ego”: daysormay have really created a dialogue that has almost a comical quality, about three roommates who argue and try to make it seem it’s going fine. In the end, if one of them goes down, the other two will meet the same end. A bit of healthy psychoanalysis expressed in art, in an enchanting song by an equally promising group; could we ask for better? Of course not.
I have to refine you, I turn your raw desire to conformity
And no I never liked you, but you’re only alive because of me
We can’t think like this, either we obey the world or we meet our demises
And hell is when you pluralize this,
’cause how many times do we have to digress?
How could you let this happen?
How could you let this fail so well?
I’m so used to rejection, I’ll probably bring a ladder to hell
Take this guilt I’m sure you’ll never grasp it,
Curb that monster, never let it happen
We’re all part of this structure,
if one goes down then we all go under
“This single in particular was instrumental in breaking us out of a musical rut we had been in for probably about a year of writing songs that just weren’t doing much for us creatively,” daysormay’s Nolan Bassett tells Atwood Magazine. “I remember Aidan (Andrews) showing us the original demo and just have my mind blown wide open and thinking “oh so we can do whatever we want, this is the music we’ve been looking for” The lyrics and song concept are based off of Sigmund Freud’s concepts of the Id, Ego, and Superego with each verse representing those individually.”
‘Ego’ started as a writing exercise,” vocalist Aidan Andrews adds. “I wanted to see if I could write from different character’s points of view in one song, I wanted to try and be as un-aidan as possible. So the song is written based off of the Wikipedia page of Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory, and it was originally just meant to be a creative experiment, but it worked out.
As for the beat, Carson Bassett explains that “‘Ego’ came from a sample pack I made just for fun from a bunch of beats on my laptop. I tweeted out if anyone wanted it and Aidan texted me asking for it. Heard the demo a month or so later and Aidan had fully arranged it into something that I couldn’t have imagined. We then wrote the chorus melody on a Fender Rhodes just focusing on how powerful it was. Aidan added the lyrics, and the music really came to life. One of my favorite songs to write for sure.
“Ego” is a creative experiment that blends a fluid melody, captivating synths, guitars, and drums that hit at just the right moment. You can never quite figure out how the piece will continue, so much so that you’re almost disappointed when “ego” finishes – because you don’t really realize it’s come to an end. That’s exactly where the magic lies: these guys are a rising star of alternative music, they love challenging themselves and prove they’re not afraid to dare.
In the lyrics, the guys from Vancouver ask themselves “How many times until I can shine through?“. From the first listen, we have an answer: they’ve already done it, and we are sure they will continue to do so.
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Listen: “Ego” – daysormay
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