I have a habit of listening to Daughtry songs that I like over and over again, and the song, "Death of Me" is no exception. However, a random thought popped into my head: I once used the song as an audio for a video edit that mainly focused on a character in a web series who is known for basically being personified anxiety. After listening to the song over and over again several more times, I found myself thinking less of the video edit itself, and more about why the song was a relevant choice of audio.

As I was listening to some of the lyrics of the song, I couldn't help but think of some of the stories I've read where a character has to deal with a panic attack. When it comes to lyrics such as,

"Like a scream inside, the one you just can't hide. The sound so deafening, you can't hear yourself think..."

It's not exactly difficult to acknowledge that it describes someone who is dealing with battles within their head that logic alone won't be able to easily save them from. If someone were to pay attention to the upcoming lyrics, it would seem as if the person who is giving the description isn't exactly describing these internal demons as strangers. From the struggle breathing, the daily battling, and the cage rattling, this is basically relatable to a person who is struggling with internal and/or external stress, and feels like they wouldn't be shocked if things get out of hand for this poor person without proper care.

Some extra thinking might be useful for the second verse, but, hey, I'm a music enthusiast, not a doctor. It might describe the person in question as someone who is aware that he is proof of the possibility that someone can go through too much of a hassle in their life caused by stress, and feels uncertain that they might actually make it through the rest of their days if they continue to suffer through their internal demons. As for the lyrics,

"blood is thicker than water, but love is even stronger,"

maybe it doesn't apply to Chris Daughtry himself, but this could possibly contain the knowledge that family might be a possible factor to the stress someone goes through, and they might end up needing to turn to more supportive and understanding peers outside of their family for help to fight through their battles that happen so often that it almost feels like they're happening daily.

Now, we're reaching an era where celebrities and other influencers are bringing the importance of mental health into the public eye however they can, so I wouldn't exactly be too surprised if someone who has trouble describing a potential panic attack or anxiety attack they had just gone through turns to the person who asked if they're okay, and tells them something along the lines of "Verse 1 of 'Death of Me'" with the little amount of air they still have in their lungs after such a struggle. Now, before anyone goes a little crazy, and thinks that I am misinterpreting the song heavily, I am just going to give a reminder that I am not an expert on panic attacks or anxiety, and I'm just using the experiences I've read about in stories written by folks who clearly know more about these scenarios than I do to get a better understanding of what the song could possibly be describing. In the end, the album Cage to Rattle (at least most of it) basically emphasizes mental health in different ways, and I applaud these influencers for bringing their experiences to light to help others who might be going through mental health issues of their own to feel less alienated in the world we live in.