Be More Than Just a Number

How to explain this... Have you seen the Flash "Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me"? That's where the idea for this song started - about the feeling that you have a number on you that everyone else can see and judge you by. And it's not just the subject of that song - especially in the electronic world where everything is measured, there is an ever-present feeling of competition against each other. But you are not your pageviews, comments or the number of Favourites you get - what matters most is how you are as a person. If you concentrate only on the numbers that make up your popularity, then you're not truly yourself.

(I've just remembered another particularly appalling example - that Lynx/Axe Clix advert with the handheld tally counters. That's almost exactly a real-life version of what "Everyone Else..." was saying!)

The dreaded P-word comes up again here, as you could say that this is slightly pop-like, being upbeat and happy, though I've used a couple of time changes to try and keep things interesting. The introduction has a brief chiptune-like section, and at the end, there's the first fadeout I've ever done. Normally I don't like these because I've always thought that they seemed to be a way around writing a real ending, but it somehow seemed appropriate here.

[Lyrics]

Do you remember how we used to be
A time with nothing in our way
We knew who we were, and life was ahead
We thought forever it would stay

But then we changed
We turned against ourselves
To prove our worth above the rest
A race began
You don't know where to run
Beginnings of this lifetime fight
To become number one

Be more than just a number
Don't let them win and take your life away
Remember your name, and be your own mind
Because you know there's so much more to be
You're so much more than just a number to me

And they'll attack you with their thoughts of you
Using their strength to make you fear
They're trying to make you their number
But don't give in when they appear

Without life, without love
You're just an empty heart
Before you know what's happening
You don't know who you are
One above the others
A mark against your skin
Is that all it means to you

Be more than just a number
Don't let them win and take your life away
Remember your name, and be your own mind
Because you know there's so much more to be
You're so much more than just a number to me

What happened to the life we used to have
The friendship we had before
We let the spirit come and take our lives away
Replaced with this endless war

And the lives we knew can be rebuilt again
If we stop chasing the sun
For the first is still a number
And if you run there, they have won

Be more than just a number
Don't let them win and take your life away
Remember your name, and be your own mind
Because you know there's so much more to be

Be more than just a number
Don't let them win and take your life away
Remember your name, and be your own mind
Because you know there's so much more to be

To rise from your sadness and bring back your life
You're so much more than just a number to me