Dopamine

Album: Dopamine (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that regulates the sensation of pleasure. In this track, Third Eye Blind frontman Stephan Jenkins is trying to figure out if his feelings are real, or just a change in brain chemistry (if he "dopa-means" it).

    In our interview with Jenkins, he explained: "'Dopamine' is almost like becoming addicted to the feeling and not necessarily attaching it to a single person, and not allowing your emotions to be hustled."
  • "Dopamine" is the title track of Third Eye Blind's fifth album, and their first since Ursa Major in 2009. When we spoke with Stephan Jenkins, he explained that the shift he's witnessed with young women and Millennials inspired the title. "I think women are more on their own terms," he said. "I don't even want to say equal because I think that there's a whole new set of female that doesn't even factor males into the equation of equality any more than males factor in anybody else."

    Jenkins also revealed how that shift has inspired the message of the song: "I say, 'I aspire to your rockabilly heart, girl, animal and engine,' meaning that you're not the vulnerable, delicate flower. It's not how this exchange is actually happening, so it's not that those relationships are being flipped, it's that they're being realigned."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Wedding Bell Blues

Wedding Bell BluesSong Writing

When a song describes a wedding, it's rarely something to celebrate - with one big exception.

Rickie Lee Jones

Rickie Lee JonesSongwriter Interviews

Rickie Lee Jones on songwriting, social media, and how she's handling Trump.

Sarah Brightman

Sarah BrightmanSongwriter Interviews

One of the most popular classical vocalists in the land is lining up a trip to space, which is the inspiration for many of her songs.

Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers

Bill Medley of The Righteous BrothersSongwriter Interviews

Medley looks back on "Unchained Melody" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" - his huge hits from the '60s that were later revived in movies.

Bill Withers

Bill WithersSongwriter Interviews

Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."

The Police

The PoliceFact or Fiction

Do their first three albums have French titles? Is "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" really meaningless? See if you can tell in this Fact or Fiction.