I think I’m in the minority with this opinion, but I absolutely love the studio version of Borne. I think it’s filled with raw emotion and incredibly moving and relatable. I honestly didn’t love it the first time I listened – I remember feeling confused initially. Then, I put it on repeat for a few hours one morning while I did yoga. With each replay, it grew on me exponentially. In my opinion, this is one of those songs that’s best understood after played on repeat a few (or a lot of) times (I feel the same way about the studio version of Dripfield).
In a nutshell, I think this song is about trusting the universe when things in life get tough (ie, everything happens for a reason), shedding things that no longer serve us (patterns, situations, people, emotional reactions, negative thoughts), and reconnecting with our inner self – or the version of our self that we were born to be.
Some background: I’m a meditation teacher, trained in the Shambhavananda School of Yoga and spiritual philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism, so I use the term “inner self”; however, this could also refer to your highest self, enlightened self, spirit, soul, core, or whatever other term resonates with you to represent that calm, conscious state of being deep within each of us that is separate from the fluctuations of the mind, senses, thoughts, and emotions.
Anyway, here’s my interpretation of the lyrics and I can’t wait to hear everyone else’s interpretation and experience with this song:
Enough
I said enough
To me, this means that we’ve finally had enough of falling into old patterns, letting our thoughts and emotions take over, and ending up in the same situations/hardships in life.
It's just a raindrop
Falling, hauling love
From above
At first impression, I associated the raindrop with a teardrop, although I suppose the raindrop could symbolize “bad weather” or going through a storm/rough time in life in general. I think the beautiful thing about this verse is that it suggests that sometimes “bad” things happen so we can break out of a pattern/situation that is no longer serving us and get back on the right path. It’s like the universe – coming from a place of love – puts hardship in our life to steer us in a different direction and help us grow. We may not realize it in the moment, so we feel upset, but those tears (or raindrops) are falling, hauling love from above from the universe,source, god, or whatever you connect with) to help us release whatever is holding us back and preventing what is meant to be. Essentially, whatever is causing those tears is happening for a reason.
Enough
Again, the “enough” signifies that we’ve had enough and are ready to let go, trust that everything happens for a reason, and break out of these patterns/mindsets/situations so we can grow to be the best version of our self – the version of our self that we were born to be.
It's not rust
'Cause if it comes out
Broken, hoping still
It's still enough
I think this verse means that it doesn’t matter how “broken” we feel when we come out the other side from a hardship in life – if we still have hope, that’s enough.
I'm not tired
I'm not worn at all
I've just started
Now I'm shown around
Just what
We were born to be
I imagine “I’m not tired” “I’m not worn at all” to be like a mantra that we’re repeating to convince ourselves that we’re ok when nearing the end of a challenging time (kind of like ”fake it until you make it”). Then, we’ve seen the light at the end of the tunnel, and we’re being “born” again. We’ve finally released what was no longer serving us and have newborn hope for the future – to start living the life that was meant for us and start being the version of ourselves that we were born to be.
Blood
It's coming up
It's moving every
Open, clothes pinned wound
Closer to us
This is my favorite verse. To me, “blood” symbolizes any physiological/emotional reaction that we may have in response to something that happens in life (eg, when someone/something “makes your blood boil”). When we experience a physiological/emotional reaction (or even negative thoughts) to something, that signifies that a deep-rooted, unresolved trauma has been triggered. It’s like we’ve used a clothes pin to sloppily close up these issues/wounds, instead of taking the time to work through them. As a result, we can become triggered – the wound opens and is brought up to the surface, causing us to have a reaction. The beautiful thing, however, is that when these wounds are brought up to the surface and we have physiological/emotional reactions, it gives us the opportunity to work through our issues – as long as we have the awareness and patience to do so, rather than ignoring them and trying to tie them off with a clothes pin (which will not be effective to prevent them from opening and resurfacing again).
Lies
It's not mine
'Cause if it's angry
Boneless, cold as hell
It's not mine
These reactions – lies, anger, coldness – are not us and are not who we are. Our inner self is pure being, consciousness, and bliss, and it exists deep within each of us at all times. It's that part of us that we can feel that's separate from our emotions and thoughts. When these types of reactions arise, we must learn to separate ourselves from them rather than let them take over and rule us. We must learn to get to the root of what’s causing us to react, work through it, and, ultimately, let go of thoughts, fantasies, emotions, and tensions so we can reconnect with our inner self. The first step in doing that is to remember that these reactions are not us - are not "mine".
I'm not tired
I'm not worn at all
I've just started
Now I'm shown around
Just what
We were born to be
At this point, I don’t think the first two lines represent an attempt to convince ourselves we’re whole so we can make it through the other side of a hardship (I know the lyrics haven't changed, so I'm not sure if it's just the evolution of the song or how Rick sings it here, but it sounds different to me). I think, at this point, we’ve made it – we’ve worked through deep-seated traumas, broken patterns, released what was no longer serving us, and begun to separate ourselves from our emotions and thoughts. We’ve shed all these karmic layers that were burying the light of our inner self. Our inner self is pure – it is not tired or worn or affected by emotions, thoughts, and hardship. Our inner self is what we were born to be and the state of being we were meant to live life from. Once we remember that and reconnect with our inner self, our perspective on life begins to change – we’re no longer ruled by or identifying with our emotions, thoughts, and hardships. Instead, we now have the opportunity to start experiencing life from this new perspective – from this free, pure state of being.
I've had enough
I've had enough
Ironclad heart
Someday,
Oh someday
I will lay
My head down
These hardships have caused us to build walls around our heart. It takes a lot of time and work to break patterns, stop reacting, separate from our emotions/thoughts, and get in the mindset of trusting that everything is working out how it's meant to. But, someday, oh someday we’ll make it through the other side of our hardship, and our minds will finally be at rest – we'll lay our head down - when we realize why things happened the way they did. Someday, oh someday we’ll become free from our patterns, emotions, thoughts, and reactions. Our minds will finally be at rest – we’ll lay our head down – when we remember that our emotions, thoughts, and reactions do not define who we are. Our inner self – the version of ourselves that we were born to be – is not affected by the challenges of life. That calm, conscious state always exists deep inside us. We easily feel connected with it in blissful moments (like at a Goose show), but often forget it's there when we're going through a difficult time or reacting to something. We just need to remember it's there and that is who we are – who we were born to be.
