The Rollercoaster

When I fall in love with a song, it’s never just about the music. Sure, a catchy melody is nice, but sometimes, it’s just about the the deeply written words, so carefully crafted that the meaning burrows deep into my heart and stay with me even after the music fades. “Rollercoaster” by David Choi is one of those.

This song taps into the metaphor of life as a chaotic, exhilarating, and terrifying experience. The lyrics encapsulate the highs, lows, twists, and unpredictable turns we all face, presenting one’s life’s journey as a solitary (and possibly lonely) ride on a rollercoaster, with all its vulnerability and lack of control.

Pull the seat belt down to my lap. Rollercoaster speeding so fast. Take me through the loop de loop…

Even just from the start, the imagery is vivid. There’s a resignation, yet also a strange readiness for the chaos. The act of pulling the seat belt down suggests preparing for a ride, but it’s not just any ride – this is the rollercoaster, a symbol of intense and swift emotions. This represents how we try to buckle in for life, hoping to feel secure, even when we know we’re about to experience something out of our control. The rollercoaster’s speed, perhaps, represents how fast life can move, and more often than not, it’s faster than what we’re prepared for. It’s a rush of adrenaline, but also a sense of trepidation.

It’s when we get on the rollercoaster though, that it sets us for the rest of your life. Loops are dizzying, disorienting, and inevitable once we’re on the track. This rollercoaster of life will just throw challenges that make our world spin. Those moments are when we lose our sense of direction.

Sitting solo wind on my face. Don’t know if the coaster is safe. I smile, or I try.

Sitting alone amplifies feelings of isolation. The wind on our face represents the rawness of facing challenges head-on without any buffers. It’s a vulnerable position. It’s a mixture of freedom and solitary.

Not knowing if the ride is safe reflects the inherent risks in stepping into the unknown. It highlights the fear of potential dangers that come with life’s unpredictability. This very uncertainty about the coaster’s safety shows how we can never truly know how secure our lives are. We often put on a brave face, smile, or at least try to, when in reality, we’re not sure if everything’s going to be okay. More often than not, we attempt to maintain a facade of positivity. It’s a struggle between genuine happiness and forcing a smile to mask inner turmoil. This speaks to the human experience of masking fear with hope, of pretending confidence when we’re actually terrified.

Bring on the fire, take me through water. I’m in this alone, it’s just getting hotter…

The imagery here is intensified. Fire and water are both forces of destruction and cleansing. They’re opposites, but are both welcomed, perhaps acknowledging that pain and growth often come hand-in-hand. The heat is rising – things are getting more difficult, more intense – but still, we know we’re in it, alone. There’s no escaping this part of life. It’s all about about endurance.

It’s not the first, sure hell ain’t the last. I go back around again. Red, yellow, green lights flash.

This acknowledgment reveals a cycle of recurring struggles. The colloquial tone (“sure hell ain’t”) adds a sense of resignation mixed with determination, recognizing that this is just another in a series of battles.

This is not the first time we face adversity, and it “sure hell” won’t be our last. We live in a life that’s throwing us onto new rollercoasters, whether we’re ready or not. The acceptance of this is both weary and resilient. Despite previous experiences, we will always find ourselves back at the beginning, perhaps hoping for a different outcome or just simply enduring the ride.

The traffic lights, despite representing signals of control, they’re fleeting, just flashing by. Are we actually in control? Or is this just another series of uncertainty, conflicting emotions that dictate our pace and decisions in life?

Everyone’s watching from the ground below. They don’t know what’s going on, but I know. They talk about the things that they see. So convinced in what they believe. Just my rollercoaster and me…

This is my favorite part.

The people on the ground represent onlookers, bystanders, or those so-called friends (or family, or what have you) who aren’t on our ride, watching from a safe distance, giving out powerful critique of judgment. It’s the disconnect between our personal experience and public perception: people see the flashing lights, the external signals, but they don’t understand the full scope of what’s happening. They are not us. They don’t know the loneliness in knowing that others can’t truly understand what we’re going through. They only see what’s on the surface, yet they talk about it with confidence, feeling entitled to comment on our lives, based on shallow observations.

In the end, no matter how many people have ended up in our life, it’s just us and our journey. There’s a sense of solitude, but there’s also a sense of ownership. For better or worse, this is our rollercoaster: it’s our life, our emotions, our struggles, and no one else can claim to understand it fully.

All the letters in sealed envelopes. Someday I’ll watch all the secrets float in the air, down to the floor…

The sealed letters are the untold stories, the hidden emotions, and all the secrets we keep close to our hearts. To us all, there’s a longing for release, a wistfulness to this imagery of secrets floating and settling suggests a future when all burdens will be lifted. Only then, truths are revealed, we will be led to a sense of relief or closure.

Some are just well-oiled machines, but there ain’t no net under these beams…

There are people whose lives running like “well-oiled machines.,” but who are we to judge or assume that? All we can do is to focus on our experience: a ride without any guarantees, without security, and without the illusion of control. The lack of safety net highlights vulnerability and risk. It’s our rollercoaster that we ride on and rely on, no matter how fragile the structure is.

Just zipping through the loop de loop de loop…

The repetition of the loop de loop, again, symbolizes the inevitable cycles of confusion and instability in our life. But this is without so much complaint. The carefree term “zipping” contrasts with the underlying tension. Perhaps it’s just us masking anxiety with nonchalance. Perhaps it’s just us accepting the inevitable cycles that we have gone through countless number of times in our life. For all we know, it will never stop.

Sitting solo wind on my face. Don’t know if the coaster is safe. I smile, or I try…

We end the song on a more positive, or perhaps, accepting note. Despite everything, the unknown remains, and the journey continues with all its inherent risks. In the end, we’re still alone, still unsure, still smiling through the uncertainty…