Commentary - Staring At The Sun by The Offspring.

Generally, the song is about trying to figure out your identity and how you fit in the world. It is especially evident for teenagers that are growing up and trying to fit in everything they do. The song also tells us of people who want to fit in so desperately that they compromise their interests and transform their character in order to fit in.

The lyrics remind me of a narrative poem. The first line sets the mood of the song and suggests that the persona is in deep thoughts about life. Simile “life is like a ride on a freeway” reflects the subject of persona’s thoughts. “Freeway” suggests freedom in choosing your way of living or your place in the society. “Ride” links to the idea of searching for something in this society. The second line completes the idea raised in the first line that life is searching for your place, trying to fit in the world. “Dodging bullets” suggests rage which could mean difficulties that can be encountered when trying to “find yourself” and that irrespective of anger or grudge that you may have you should continue to seek for your place in society. The next two lines link to the idea that it is important for anybody to be who he/she is and do not care what anyone else thinks. This is suggested by the third line that although “everyone’s around”, there is really no help from them in selecting the path of your life (“no one does a damn thing”). The next line extends the idea slightly suggesting that being yourself while all the rest turn against you is very hard but you should not quit the path you have selected. The end of the third line and the beginning of the fourth are loaded with “heavy” words. This becomes even more evident as the singer stresses these words when singing the song. Repetition of “d” and “g” in the words “damn”, “thing”, “brings”, “down” emphasizes the fact that there is no help from the people surrounding you and that they essentially try to stop you from selecting your path (“bring”, “down”). But this is then contradicted by “I won’t let them”.

The second stanza emphasizes persona’s unwillingness to conform to everyone else. This is suggested by the first four lines. The last three lines of the stanza are very significant. In these lines persona is trying to say that if someone is going to destroy himself, he is not going to drag the persona down with him.  This is suggested by “I won’t be burned by the reflection of the fire in your eyes”. The words “burned” and “fire” are significant here as they emphasize burning, dying out, destruction of character and identity of somebody who is trying to fit in something unnatural for himself. “Staring at the sun” is a metaphor or analogy for people that are being self-destructive or compromising themselves. The persona says that he is not a part of this and appeals to people to stick to their own paths that they have selected and not compromise themselves. The “burning” of these lines suggests persona’s fury about this situation.

The third stanza is about persona in the actual search for his path of life. The first two lines of the stanza suggest that you may be uncertain or doubt the path you have selected when all the people around you are trying to stop you. Echoing of running away (“ran” and “ran away”) and escaping (“escaped” and “got away”) in the same lines emphasizes your tireless search for the true path, that you may not know what to do or where to go but you should keep seeking for it. This idea is also confirmed by the last two lines of the stanza that you should live in the way you want and not to conform to somebody else’s style of living (“there’s more to living than only surviving”) just because you have to, if it is unnatural for you. The last line of the stanza confirms the idea that although you realize you have not found your path yet you should continue seeking for it. It is also significant that the idea of searching, emphasized by the first two lines (“ran”, “ran away”, “escaped” and “got away”) also links it to the idea that your mind could be confused by other people’s opinions.

The last stanza again emphasizes the fact that the persona is not going to be dragged down by self-destructive people who compromise themselves. In the first two lines persona is suggesting that although these self-destructive people may understand him they cannot take any action towards changing it as their identity and character are already tied in with the thought that they have to compromise themselves. The third and fourth lines of the stanza signify the fact that persona will not be a part of that by admitting that “my will” will be guiding him in search for his path and that it cannot be manipulated or “confiscated” unlike the minds of people who compromise themselves. This is also confirmed by stressing “my will” which emphasizes strength and endurance. The last three lines of the stanza repeat the end of the second one and thus emphasize the persona’s thoughts that it is important for anybody to be who they really want to and  not  to try conforming  to or to fitting in somebody else’s style.