The Head And The Heart's Lost In My Mind is a testament to living in the moment and valuing happiness. Ultimately its message boils down to being able to accept yourself and your position in life, valuing the things that really matter in life, like "the stars up above" rather than work and money -- "bricklaying" and our "hands getting filled." Jonathan Russell, the lead singer, calls us to be honest with ourselves: are we satisfies with the conventional life we're living? If not, we should own up to our position so that "we can start moving forward"
The speaker in this song is Jonathan Russell, a guitarist, percussionist, vocalist and lyricist from Virginia. Russell partly sings this song to his brother. Jonathan thinks his brother is too focused on material pursuits, and isn't happy on the inside because he doesn't spend enough time after abstract pursuits. So in essence, Russell is singing out of deep empathy for his brother's situation. This motive sets the tone for the song.
In my opinion, this is the setting: the singer's mother just died. The brother is very successful, but does not have strong ties to the family, and his presence has always felt distant. The song comes in a time of mourning, when the two brother are together, contemplating where to go from here.
The first stanza is a plea to his brother for a moment of peace, when they won't be distracted by his dreams and material concerns. This is clearly a serious time, and Jonathan intends to try to appeal to his brother's emotions and conjure up some spontaneity in him.
The second stanza brings the mom into play. Here Jonathan appeals to his brother's sense of commitment and love for their mother. He understands his brothers' constant uneasiness and he understands that maybe the reason his brother doesn't fit in is because he never felt accepted growing up. For this reason, he sings "Momma once told me/You're already home where you feel love."
Every time he gives his brother a direction to follow, an emotion to experience, an accusation to respond to, he follows it with "I am lost in my mind/I get lost in my mind." In this way, he stays humble, stays true to his roots, and makes sure that his brother will not get defensive and hide behind his successful-objective-business-man persona.
Some of the song is simply Jonathan harmonizing. By staying simple with his lyricism, he further promotes the ideology he's living: in the moment, loving, naturalistic.
The most powerful part of the song comes about 2/3 of the way through when Jonathan outright questions his brother's persona. He knows his brother is hiding behind his external success. He knows his brother is lacking true, heartfelt emotion and openness. So he confronts his brother's persona with rhetorical questioning: "How's that bricklaying coming/How's your engine running/Is that bridge getting built/Are your hands getting filled."
He follows these accusations with the reasoning for his inquisition: "Won't you tell me my brother/Cause there are stars up above." Once his brother can fess up to his façade and embrace living in the moment and following what he truly loves in life, "We can start moving forward."
The confrontation thus is a show of true love. Jonathan is willing to confront, and momentarily hurt his brother, to rescue him from the fake life he's living.
Another approach to the song is that Jonathan is the one who was left behind. His brother was pragmatic and a hard worker. He worked his way up from "bricklaying" to building that bridge. Jonathan, on the other hand, always dreamed of the stars, but never got anywhere with his life and is now stuck dreaming, but not achieving. The "Mom" reference fits into this reading as well, for he is till at home with her, and thus remembers her adage best.
In any case, the song is special because it remains ambiguous. It's open to interpretation, and just about anyone in just about any situation can relate to the emotions expressed in some way.
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