You’re likely familiar with Freud’s theory that the psyche is structured in three parts: the Id, Ego, and Superego. The Ego is the you you think of when you think of you. The Id is your animal nature: the part of you that wants immediate gratification with food, sex, and violence. The Superego is the angel sitting on your shoulder reminding you to have patience, plan ahead, or take the high road.
What you might not know about Freud’s theory is that the German words he chose were everyday words, rather than Latin: Das Es, Ich, and Über-Ich. That is, “The It,” “I,” and “Over-I.”
From Jekyll and Hyde to Nick Lowe’s “The Beast in Me” to St. Paul’s “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do,” people have been trying to figure out what this thing is that rears its ugly head when we least expect it. Freud would call it The It.
With that in mind, I wrote “The It and I.” The song laments the shadow side that accompanies us all our days. Neither the song–nor I–have come to any conclusions about this ugly part of ourselves. Make peace with The It, my friend–It is you.
1. The It and I.
The It and I.
By night or in the day,
I cannot get away;
my shadow never leaves my side.
The It and I.
2. The It and I.
The It and I.
I feed it or I starve
this beast inside my heart
and yet it seems he’ll never die.
The It and I.
3. The It and I.
The It and I.
Why won’t it let me be?
Oh, will it ever leave?
Or will it hound me til I die?
The It and I.
I’m starting to believe it’s me.