Expert: Kristen - 3/28/2005

Question
thanx for the last answer . Have a million questions about him but I guess we all do as fans. I thought listening to him was some deep connection to like minded fans. some deep source he reaches in all of us.
there are alot of fans out there my god , didnt realize. are u all deep people???
reading up today and someone told me the meaning of this song is about drug addiction. Hard to believe he was. Was he???? I thought it was about looking out for the bad energy that can take us over. to keep our eyes open...kind of on those lines. The warehouse been our souls.
help , really would love to know cause out of all his songs this one moves me the most. the other is tripping billies but I know from the words that this has to do with his life in south africa.  

Answer
    Yes!  DMB's fan-base is HUGE!  People travel all over to see DMB perform, as have I.  I wouldn't necessarily say that ALL of DMB's fans are deep.  Dave's lyrics definitely do touch the hearts, minds, and souls of the majority of his fans though.  Some people focus more on the music part than on the lyrics, but either way, DMB's music definitely is unique and beautiful and strikes a cord in many people's hearts.  
    Dave has said before that he used to do drugs.  I don't know if I would have called him a drug addict, but he has admitted to doing drugs and smoking weed in the past.  I think all of that has died down now that he is settled down with his wife and children.  
    When DMB first started performing, they played at a warehouse in Charlottesville, Virginia.  It is said that Dave also went to that warehouse a lot to be alone, to read, write songs, and to think quietly.  It is believed by some that "Warehouse" is based on some of the experiences and thoughts that Dave had while visiting the warehouse.  This place was his "safe haven" away from everything else.  That is where the title "Warehouse" came from.  The song is also rumored to have been about a drug addiction - about the downside of drugs "the warehouse is bare and empty" - the emptiness that can come along with doing drugs can drive you to loneliness.  He starts off the song with "see I'm leaving/the warehouse frightens me" to show that he wants to quit doing the drugs, he knows it's taking its toll.  The lyrics "and here I sit, life goes on, end of tunnel, TV set, spot in the middle, static fade, statistical bit, and soon I'll fade away, I'll fade away" could easily be read as being stoned and just zoning out into space...being a bump on a log...useless.  Then the lyrics "this I admit tastes so good, hard to believe an end to it, smell touch feel, how could this rhythm ever quit" could easily be read as the drugs taking its effect and feeling so good and not wanting the feeling to end (not imagining it could).  The lyrics "this I admit seems so good, hard to believe an end to it, warehouse is bare, nothing at all inside of it, the walls and halls have disappeared, they disappear" could be saying "the drugs wore off and here I am back in reality, everything I thought was so good, has gone away."  When Dave sings "my love how I'd love to stay here" - that could mean that he was becoming an addict.  But if the song were about all of this, your interpretation would still fit.  Drugs are bad and can take us over and we need to keep our eyes open and be aware of them.  Some have also said that the warehouse in the song represents Dave's soul - the warehouse was a place where Dave's soul was and where his soul grew.
    Dave has said that "Tripping Billies" is a song about tripping on drugs and an experience he had with friends while being in South Africa (I believe "Billy" is slang for "Police" in South Africa - although you would know that better than I).  It's about the first time he took acid.  He was on a beach with friends and when he took the acid he decided he did not want to trip, but the acid got him and he decided to just go with it because life is short, so live while you can.  They had a blast sitting around a campfire and the next thing he knows he is talking to the cops.  This song is about all the fun he had and the fact that he did not want it to end.
    Hope all of this helps you and thanks for your questions!  Let me know if you have any more!