Stunning reaction. Your understanding, your grasp of metaphor and nuance in what is, after all, a second language is amazing. Your reactions are always so on point. Plus, you are such a ridiculously good looking couple, its not fair on the rest of us mere mortals!
TOTALLY agree! I have watched SOOOO many reactions to this song, and this one is the only one I truly think "nailed it", or at least my interpretation, as someone that was so "doped up" on psych meds once upon a time, of this song. And they both are SUPER cute too! Well done guys, you really understood the intent behind the song (in my opinion 😉)!
The chair is kinda intentional and, in a way, an Easter egg, too. If you look up the meaning of 'cherophobia' it'll kinda make sense more. It literally means a fear of happiness. This is something which is alluded to in the lyrics when he's saying, 'He's scared of being OK (happy) cos all things change'. Makes total sense from that point. A lot of Ren videos have little hidden meanings and ester eggs within them.
@chadUCSD what do you pick of from the books with hand written covers in the beginning? In context with the chalk outlines / barriers we create around ourselves feeling I get from the song is those are him saying [ dont judge a book by its cover ]
@Donetravlin Yeah, basically the same. Don't judge a book. Delve into it. As for Chalk Outlines, remember in old US cop shows, they'd draw around the body with Chalk to outline where the body was and its position, etc? For me, Chalk Outlines is saying you basically feel dead inside in a way due to your illness, whatever the illness is. And the meds you take to 'help' can sometimes make you feel worse than before for a multitude of reasons. Or numb you so much that you kinda feel dead inside or end up kinda catatonic n out of it. Or you feel so bad you wanna be dead. Hence, the 'Chalk outline' of your own body.
1:31 "A chair and a guitar. I'm doomed." Wow, what a perfect quip to utter. So very quotable. 😍 As for the track, I think the first two lines are the greatest openers to a song I might have heard. So simple yet so relatable. I mean outside the context of where the song goes. I think almost all of us have experienced those first two lines at some point... be it that devastating feeling as a teenager when your first love experience goes awry, or that time you said or did something so embarrassing you just want to crawl up in a ball and stay that way forever, haha; or the loss of someone very close to you that leaves a empty void. Such delicate and yet enormous opening two lines. It speaks to the human condition. And as if to confirm, your reaction and experience cements that human connection. Wonderful . ❤ Edit: I cannot spell after a few glasses of red wine. :)
This is probably my favourite Ren song. When I discovered Ren about 18 months ago I was only really starting my recovery. I've had mental health problems my whole life, mostly PTSD caused by a very nasty childhood illness that had several very good tries at killing me but then went away when I was 18. Since then, I've spent most of my life self-medicating with drugs (mostly cannabis, alcohol when camnabis wasn't available and LSD sometimes too) to try and stem the panic attacks. It never occurred to me that it was PTSD causing these until I was in my 50s. Then about 2 1/2 years ago a friend who is a social worker gave me the insight to realise what the problem was and I started my recovery. Once I realised the cause of the panic attacks I could control them better and even work through the fears causing them. I was doing OK with this but expecting it to be a long process over many years. After a year I was just starting to try and function without being constantly stoned but it was hard. Then I discovered Ren. When I first heard this song it instantly spoke to me and I had it on constant repeat for 3 days, even singing it to myself when I went to bed. I had a brief relapse of drug-taking for those days, but after that I've been much better. Now I rarely take drugs any more, and only still do because I've gained friends in my life who also smoke pot and they expect me to have a smoke with them when I see them. I don't think I'll be smoking it any more though. My lungs are shot, not just from 40 years of smoking. I've had pneumonia more times than I can count, and very severe pneumonia was one of the ways my illness tried to kill me when I was 12. I can't fix the damage done to them but I can stop making them worse, and thanks in large part to Ren I can do that without spending most days in panic attacks. I think to an extent you are both right in your interpretations of this song. When I'm stoned there's only an outline of who I really am showing, even to myself. I'm only now starting to get to know who I really am. I've found I really like myself and I wish I could have known this earlier. But no real regrets. I've had an interesting and eventful life, and although large parts of it have been a bit horrible I've learned a lot and got many good memories as well as bad ones. Now I still have time to make more good memories, and I don't need to be scared that they'll be bad ones instead.
As someone who live with severe chronic depression and has done so over the last 40 years, i can tell you that from my experience, what Ren is singing here with the chalk outlines is exactly how it feels when u are on medication. You are simple a ghost trying to trace your way back to some resemblance of your real self. Because while on meds, yes they can numb the more intrusive thoughts, but you are just simply not yourself. I think you are both correct in your assessment and experience of what Ren was depicting here. Ren has an uncanny ability to convey emotion and states being into words that really paints a visual for the listener of how exactly a feeling feels.
I love how you love our Boi Ren. He is struggling through some craziness this week but your support for him gives us Renegades strength & calmness. Thank you.
You need to listen to chinchilla 1:5 I'm an old geezer but it made me shed a tear. Must say you two are a perfect couple.... good looking dude and a stunning woman with amazing eyes. Love from England 😊
I remember when I first heard this, and he says it so well with the gallows on my toes line. Its like when your heart is breaking that you can't breathe...and all you can do is walk around like a chalk outline of who you used to be when you were alive.
While I have been blessed in life, Ren speaks to me as well. I think Ren brings such empathy and feeling into his music that even someone that doesn't have empathy is gifted some through Ren's music. That is how powerful Ren's music is. At least that is what I believe but, since I actually have empathy, I can't guarantee it.
You two are wonderful to watch. For an upbeat Ren song that won't make you emotional, try "Back To 74/ Message in a Bottle Retake". I think it will just make you appreciate the true versatility and genius of Ren. Thank you both for sharing your feelings through your reaction videos.
Great reaction great undertanding. Loved the reaction To me "Erase ourselves in these chalk Outlines" means when we take these pills we are just a chalk outline of ourselves and so we are erasing ourselves. Just like with the line "I'll bury myself with a great big smile" While I am smiling I have taken a pill and I am just a smiling chalk outline of myself, the rest of me has been buried. A very sad song about the effect of pills on people, they can cure us but they can also destroy us.
Great reaction guys, always look forward to your interpretation of these great Ren tracks, there is a different meaning to each and everyone of us, keep them coming, all the best to you both from England UK.
I loved your reaction, Ren's songs can have many interpretations, he doesn't always get so specific he will leave it up to us how it makes us feel, try how to be me live, another one with Chinchilla and ge prepared lol😂 ❤
On his chanel he mad 8 chapter where is telling his full story, watch them, you don't have to react to it, just watch it, you'll be blown by his life story.
Several years ago I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and this is my favourite Ren song because it expresses everything I've felt since. When you take any of the medication they prescribe the mood stabilisers you feel less depression and less highs but you also feel nothing, you walk around in the world feeling like a ghost or zombie. It's horrible but you also get to feel 'comfortable' with where you are at, you don't want to allow yourself to feel happiness in case it doesn't last and the come down feels more brutal.
Beautiful insightful reaction of you both, with shared ánd different views, but always to the point. Subscribed. Greetings and all the best from Belgium 🙃
Wow, just found you two and am so happy. Such a wonderful reaction! “A chair and a guitar. I’m doomed.” Isn’t it amazing what emotions can be created with just those two things when you add Ren to the mix?
Thank you 🤍 Carol & ELi 🤍 for your 🐷 Ren X Chinchilla - 🎸🧑🎤💊 Chalk Outlines (live) reaction! #ren #chinchilla #chalkoutlines #live ...want more of that magic? Ren x Chinchilla - One Dance/Drunk in love (Drake/Beyoncé cover) - th-cam.com/video/pHvBxh6cXn8/w-d-xo.html CHINCHILLA x Ren - Sexual Healing (Marvin Gaye) Live - th-cam.com/video/kAzVVbsAgk0/w-d-xo.html Ren X Chinchilla - 🎸🧑🎤🧑🎤🌉 How To Be Me th-cam.com/video/SDR7sup3DsU/w-d-xo.html
Ren's music can mean many things to many people. Your interpretation was very interesting. For me, I went through a period of time where I was medicated for depression. When Chinchilla first starts singing, she says "Sertraline and a sip of serotonin". Sertraline is an SSRI medication to regulate serotonin to reduce depression symptoms. Doctors cycled me through several different SSRI medications and they all made me feel empty. I could not emotionally feel anything while taking them. I didn't care about anything. I was emotionally numb. Like this song says, I was walking around in a chalk outline just feeling dead inside.
I was told 30yrs ago in a drug rehab in Southampton that the hardest thing to do when trying to get off drugs is you have to change your story.ive never forgot that and then to hear Ren say he scare to be normal or well,it's because we unfortunately find our comfort in our story.
If you are wondering who she is. Her name is Daisy, and she has serious stage-fright issues. So she puts on her big nails, sometimes an outfit she has designed herself, and turns into Chinchilla. She and Ren were both dropped as artists by Sony and both are now absolutely rocking their careers as independent artists. I did not know about her until I saw this song with Ren, and I didn't look her up until "How To Be Me". I don't regret it, she has one heck of a voice as well.
Yes. This is the metaphor I see. Make a smile, swallow this pill, put on a mask to fit into society. All I am doing is drawing the chalk outline of who I really am.
Thank you for your genuine heartfelt reaction. "Chalk Outlines" touches me deeply no matter how many times I watch this video or hear this song. Ren has been able to express through his songs what I have been unsuccessfully trying to communicate to others regarding my mental, emotional, and physical struggles. The studio version is also incredible. However, in my personal opinion, it does not come close to the live version. This performance is so much more raw, emotional, and visceral, and Chinchilla's performance here elevates the song to a whole new plain. I wish the live version would be available on Spotify. Someone (Obj Owl @JoesTheBestInTheWorl) shared his interpretation, I think fittingly so, “The sound of the folding chair opening up fills the empty space with echoes emanating from the walls and then diminishes. Ren uses this to compose the song, with Chalk Outlines representing the empty space that he feels within. Chinchilla, who also emerges from the walls and echos Ren throughout and suitably for an echo, has the last word, leaving a dark empty space. It's dark on the gallows.” Given Ren's medical history, I interpret this song to address mental illness diagnoses, and prescription psychotropics, which leave you emotionally dead (hence, the chalk outlines around your dead self). Even on a relatively good day when you might not want to take your pills, you take them "just in case," and you never truly enjoy "being ok because all things change," i.e., your well-being is usually short-lived and followed by another bout with depression. In her opening line, Chinchilla even mentions the antidepressant (SSRI) "Sertraline" and references serotonin. I can attest to the reality of this; for over 15 years, I was prescribed a cocktail of max doses of psychotropics, including Sertraline, until I decided to carefully wean myself off all medications in 2014. The side effects of the drugs were too many and too severe; they left me an emotional zombie, while the benefits were negligible. I lost all capacity to feel love, compassion, or empathy while feelings of anger, and rage remained and were potentiated and frequently dominated my psyche. I am still struggling daily but I rather feel pain than nothing at all. I would recommend you also check out Ren's other collaboration with Chinchilla, the "How to Be Me" live version, as well as their busking sessions in Brighton, performing “Sexual Healing” (Marvin Gaye cover) and “One Dance / Drunk in love” (Drake/Beyoncé cover). The latter two are of a much more joyful nature. As for "Chalk Outlines," it is one of my favorite songs right now; it is beautiful yet sad. Looking forward to more Ren reactions from you. God bless.
I just found you guys today and really enjoy your reactions so far. Your reaction to George Carlin on religion made me think you would really like a couple of songs, first Judith by A Perfect Circle and second Opiate by Tool. Same song writer and lead singer. You'll enjoy the music and the lyrics. Thanks, Jason
It's a perfect description of the emotional emptiness I felt when taking the anti-depressant, Sertraline. I took it for quite a few years, but ultimately decided that the ups and downs of my depression was preferable to the constant state of numbness caused by the drug. (Having said that, I may well have not been here to type this, had I not taken anti-depressants)
The power Ren has created with his voice and music is astonishing, he is a true artist. pure in all he creates his art touches everyone in their own interpretations. He and all that work with him are beautiful artists. Thank you both for the reaction video.💫🫶
Enjoy your reaction, now subbed. Looking forward to going through the rest of your videos. So many wonderful people on TH-cam I didn't know about until Ren brought me there
I love you guys! Watching your reaction is reliving the experience. You might get more insight by watching Ren's 'Ren - Diazepam (Official Visualizer)' video. The medication causes flattening of emotion, depersonalization, derealization. As also stated in his 'Sick Boi' (if you can watch anymore since his issue with the beats he acquired from Kujo). That is the 'erasing ourselves' by medication, the hollowness you feel may be relief from your symptoms, but it is trading agony for life as a zombie. A 'perfect day is a beautiful shame as all things change,' so take the medication just in case, you miss the joy of the day, but you can't take the risk. 'In the gallows I'm balanced on my toes so I can breath'... always on edge, always vigilant, always taking effort just to be. Yes, it doesn't get more poetic to describe that situation than that.
I loved your reaction. ❤ Would love to see you to react to them singing “How to be Me” I’d also highly recommend Chinchillas songs “Fingers” and “Little Girl Gone” the live versions. Amazing artists, both of them.
I think this is a tragically beautiful song so wonderfully written and their voices harmonised together so well. Please, please, please please please do a reaction to Chinchilla song. 1:5 live. It’s so worth it you won’t regret it.
"This is actually unbelievable." "He does it every time!" "The unbelievable thing is that he does it every time!!" That was hilarious but truer words have never been spoken. Awesome.
To me it's about taking anti-depressants. I am on them and it's so true to that. I don't want to be on them but it does feel like I'm struggling to breathe but it does make me dead inside. Great reaction you two. Ren's music is sometimes called bardcore which I agree with. He is a bard in the truest sense.
Now you have to watch them performing "How To Be Me" (live)
I prefer How to be me. It is a must. Also Precious is genius visually
100%
@@gazzaren7730 100%
@@gazzaren7730And me
⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️ what they said
Stunning reaction. Your understanding, your grasp of metaphor and nuance in what is, after all, a second language is amazing. Your reactions are always so on point. Plus, you are such a ridiculously good looking couple, its not fair on the rest of us mere mortals!
How can you not love them? Beautiful, insightful and so genuine. I hope that they are able to create more reactions.
Well said. They got everything. Second language, crazy. 👏
Thank you for putting it in the right words for me!
TOTALLY agree! I have watched SOOOO many reactions to this song, and this one is the only one I truly think "nailed it", or at least my interpretation, as someone that was so "doped up" on psych meds once upon a time, of this song. And they both are SUPER cute too! Well done guys, you really understood the intent behind the song (in my opinion 😉)!
Agree 🙏
Now THIS is more like it! How could you punish yourselves (and us) by waiting this long to react to this? MORE REN PLEASE!
Chair & Guitar...always a warning sign with Ren x
Also a chair with wheels! 😉😙
The chair is kinda intentional and, in a way, an Easter egg, too. If you look up the meaning of 'cherophobia' it'll kinda make sense more. It literally means a fear of happiness. This is something which is alluded to in the lyrics when he's saying, 'He's scared of being OK (happy) cos all things change'. Makes total sense from that point. A lot of Ren videos have little hidden meanings and ester eggs within them.
@chadUCSD what do you pick of from the books with hand written covers in the beginning?
In context with the chalk outlines / barriers we create around ourselves feeling I get from the song is those are him saying [ dont judge a book by its cover ]
@Donetravlin Yeah, basically the same. Don't judge a book. Delve into it. As for Chalk Outlines, remember in old US cop shows, they'd draw around the body with Chalk to outline where the body was and its position, etc? For me, Chalk Outlines is saying you basically feel dead inside in a way due to your illness, whatever the illness is. And the meds you take to 'help' can sometimes make you feel worse than before for a multitude of reasons. Or numb you so much that you kinda feel dead inside or end up kinda catatonic n out of it. Or you feel so bad you wanna be dead. Hence, the 'Chalk outline' of your own body.
1:31 "A chair and a guitar. I'm doomed." Wow, what a perfect quip to utter. So very quotable. 😍
As for the track, I think the first two lines are the greatest openers to a song I might have heard. So simple yet so relatable. I mean outside the context of where the song goes. I think almost all of us have experienced those first two lines at some point... be it that devastating feeling as a teenager when your first love experience goes awry, or that time you said or did something so embarrassing you just want to crawl up in a ball and stay that way forever, haha; or the loss of someone very close to you that leaves a empty void. Such delicate and yet enormous opening two lines. It speaks to the human condition.
And as if to confirm, your reaction and experience cements that human connection. Wonderful . ❤
Edit: I cannot spell after a few glasses of red wine. :)
This is probably my favourite Ren song. When I discovered Ren about 18 months ago I was only really starting my recovery. I've had mental health problems my whole life, mostly PTSD caused by a very nasty childhood illness that had several very good tries at killing me but then went away when I was 18. Since then, I've spent most of my life self-medicating with drugs (mostly cannabis, alcohol when camnabis wasn't available and LSD sometimes too) to try and stem the panic attacks. It never occurred to me that it was PTSD causing these until I was in my 50s.
Then about 2 1/2 years ago a friend who is a social worker gave me the insight to realise what the problem was and I started my recovery. Once I realised the cause of the panic attacks I could control them better and even work through the fears causing them. I was doing OK with this but expecting it to be a long process over many years. After a year I was just starting to try and function without being constantly stoned but it was hard.
Then I discovered Ren. When I first heard this song it instantly spoke to me and I had it on constant repeat for 3 days, even singing it to myself when I went to bed. I had a brief relapse of drug-taking for those days, but after that I've been much better. Now I rarely take drugs any more, and only still do because I've gained friends in my life who also smoke pot and they expect me to have a smoke with them when I see them.
I don't think I'll be smoking it any more though. My lungs are shot, not just from 40 years of smoking. I've had pneumonia more times than I can count, and very severe pneumonia was one of the ways my illness tried to kill me when I was 12. I can't fix the damage done to them but I can stop making them worse, and thanks in large part to Ren I can do that without spending most days in panic attacks.
I think to an extent you are both right in your interpretations of this song. When I'm stoned there's only an outline of who I really am showing, even to myself. I'm only now starting to get to know who I really am. I've found I really like myself and I wish I could have known this earlier. But no real regrets. I've had an interesting and eventful life, and although large parts of it have been a bit horrible I've learned a lot and got many good memories as well as bad ones. Now I still have time to make more good memories, and I don't need to be scared that they'll be bad ones instead.
As someone who live with severe chronic depression and has done so over the last 40 years, i can tell you that from my experience, what Ren is singing here with the chalk outlines is exactly how it feels when u are on medication.
You are simple a ghost trying to trace your way back to some resemblance of your real self.
Because while on meds, yes they can numb the more intrusive thoughts, but you are just simply not yourself.
I think you are both correct in your assessment and experience of what Ren was depicting here.
Ren has an uncanny ability to convey emotion and states being into words that really paints a visual for the listener of how exactly a feeling feels.
I love how you love our Boi Ren. He is struggling through some craziness this week but your support for him gives us Renegades strength & calmness. Thank you.
Another powerful reaction from you guys. Ren gets to all of us. 😢❤
Another great reaction. I love how you two seem to get the point of the song so well and so quickly. Thank you.
You need to listen to chinchilla 1:5 I'm an old geezer but it made me shed a tear. Must say you two are a perfect couple.... good looking dude and a stunning woman with amazing eyes. Love from England 😊
You must try HERETIC AND insomnia from Ren ...Love you people❤
Loved how you got it straight away.
She is amazing, I love Ren, I love Chinchilla, respect to them both 🙏
“A chair and a guitar. I’m doomed.”
Yup, pretty much.
🤛😎👍🫶
I remember when I first heard this, and he says it so well with the gallows on my toes line. Its like when your heart is breaking that you can't breathe...and all you can do is walk around like a chalk outline of who you used to be when you were alive.
Great reaction, Carol and Elie! Their voices blend so well together. Very insightful comments.
Ren has a way that his voice and emotions demand your attention and draws you in. It is one of his super powers, love Chinchillas voice as well.
love when you guys do Ren. Stay safe over there.
While I have been blessed in life, Ren speaks to me as well. I think Ren brings such empathy and feeling into his music that even someone that doesn't have empathy is gifted some through Ren's music. That is how powerful Ren's music is. At least that is what I believe but, since I actually have empathy, I can't guarantee it.
still one of my fav ren performances , him and chinchila go so well together
You really need to react to Ren 7 sins, or losing it. Some of Rens best raps.
Love your reactions ❤❤
You two are wonderful to watch. For an upbeat Ren song that won't make you emotional, try "Back To 74/ Message in a Bottle Retake". I think it will just make you appreciate the true versatility and genius of Ren. Thank you both for sharing your feelings through your reaction videos.
Second that. Love Back on 74
Great reaction great undertanding. Loved the reaction
To me "Erase ourselves in these chalk Outlines" means when we take these pills we are just a chalk outline of ourselves and so we are erasing ourselves. Just like with the line "I'll bury myself with a great big smile" While I am smiling I have taken a pill and I am just a smiling chalk outline of myself, the rest of me has been buried. A very sad song about the effect of pills on people, they can cure us but they can also destroy us.
Well said - I agree.
Ren & Chinchilla, simply the best together. How To Be Me LIVE , is a must now! Loved this reaction.
Thank you for your heartfelt appreciation and deep understanding of Ren's, and now Chinchilla's music. Always enjoy your reactions! ❤❤❤
The song "Humble" with Eden Nash have his best vocals. It's a must watch!
Really tremendous reaction. You two are real and thoughtful.
Did you check Ren's music video "Precious" with big Push?? That's a beautiful song with visual treat... You'll love it for sure.
Great reaction guys, always look forward to your interpretation of these great Ren tracks, there is a different meaning to each and everyone of us, keep them coming, all the best to you both from England UK.
Beautiful reaction ❤ they speak to all of us like that.
I loved your reaction, Ren's songs can have many interpretations, he doesn't always get so specific he will leave it up to us how it makes us feel, try how to be me live, another one with Chinchilla and ge prepared lol😂 ❤
I love you two. You feel the pain REN can deliver, and the joy and positivity of YES! You get it all. ☮️❤️🎼
Yes.. "how to be me" is my favorite
On his chanel he mad 8 chapter where is telling his full story, watch them, you don't have to react to it, just watch it, you'll be blown by his life story.
Several years ago I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and this is my favourite Ren song because it expresses everything I've felt since. When you take any of the medication they prescribe the mood stabilisers you feel less depression and less highs but you also feel nothing, you walk around in the world feeling like a ghost or zombie.
It's horrible but you also get to feel 'comfortable' with where you are at, you don't want to allow yourself to feel happiness in case it doesn't last and the come down feels more brutal.
You two are such a beautiful couple. More Ren please, I love your reactions 🖤
Great reaction both. Ren never fails to hit us in the feels and when he partners up with Chinchilla that effect is just magnified.
Carol "A chair and a guitar, Yeah I'm Doomed"
One of my all time favs. Thank you for reacting to this one ❤ It's a crier song for sure.
Always enjoy your reactions to Ren❤
This is a lovely reaction, thank you guys. Feel the love from you to us and back again.
Beautiful insightful reaction of you both, with shared ánd different views, but always to the point. Subscribed. Greetings and all the best from Belgium 🙃
One thing i focus on when watching reactions is the backdrop, and the lighting...i absolutely LOVE your backdrop! 😍 wonderful choice ❤
Wow, just found you two and am so happy. Such a wonderful reaction! “A chair and a guitar. I’m doomed.” Isn’t it amazing what emotions can be created with just those two things when you add Ren to the mix?
You didn't even need to say anything after the video. Your expressions and emotions said it all. 💞
Thank you 🤍 Carol & ELi 🤍 for your 🐷 Ren X Chinchilla - 🎸🧑🎤💊 Chalk Outlines (live) reaction! #ren #chinchilla #chalkoutlines #live
...want more of that magic?
Ren x Chinchilla - One Dance/Drunk in love (Drake/Beyoncé cover) - th-cam.com/video/pHvBxh6cXn8/w-d-xo.html
CHINCHILLA x Ren - Sexual Healing (Marvin Gaye) Live - th-cam.com/video/kAzVVbsAgk0/w-d-xo.html
Ren X Chinchilla - 🎸🧑🎤🧑🎤🌉 How To Be Me th-cam.com/video/SDR7sup3DsU/w-d-xo.html
Great reaction, REN n Chinchilla mesh so well. How to be me live is definitely worth a listen and Chinchilla Fingers live is terrific as well
Cheraphobia I’v read is when you are scared of being okay. Beautiful song and great reaction
Beautiful reaction...to an amazing song.
Great reaction! One of the best really. You guys got it right away. I can tell it hit you hard. Very introspective. Subbed!
9:40 *"Erase OURSELVES with these Chalk Outlines"*
Back on 74 for just a happy time.... its not all doom and gloom ❤❤
Ren's music can mean many things to many people. Your interpretation was very interesting. For me, I went through a period of time where I was medicated for depression. When Chinchilla first starts singing, she says "Sertraline and a sip of serotonin". Sertraline is an SSRI medication to regulate serotonin to reduce depression symptoms. Doctors cycled me through several different SSRI medications and they all made me feel empty. I could not emotionally feel anything while taking them. I didn't care about anything. I was emotionally numb. Like this song says, I was walking around in a chalk outline just feeling dead inside.
The guy is right about the metaphor I think, great reaction.
I loved how you guys connected to this song , Much love from Halifax Canada
You both are beautiful inside and out!! Thank you for sharing your first reaction!
REN is playing at a festival next weekend in the UK ❤❤❤❤
Rens a genius
I was told 30yrs ago in a drug rehab in Southampton that the hardest thing to do when trying to get off drugs is you have to change your story.ive never forgot that and then to hear Ren say he scare to be normal or well,it's because we unfortunately find our comfort in our story.
Love your reactions with Ren.
He does it everytime to me too.
❤❤ Great Reaction
Beautiful reaction. It's impossible to be unmoved by this song.❤
I got to go from a Carlin reaction to a Ren reaction, I heart you guys!
If you are wondering who she is. Her name is Daisy, and she has serious stage-fright issues. So she puts on her big nails, sometimes an outfit she has designed herself, and turns into Chinchilla. She and Ren were both dropped as artists by Sony and both are now absolutely rocking their careers as independent artists. I did not know about her until I saw this song with Ren, and I didn't look her up until "How To Be Me". I don't regret it, she has one heck of a voice as well.
Both interpretations are spot on! Love this! Great job you guys!
Thanks for the great reaction you lovely people ;)
Children of the Moon,,,,, Fred aagin mash up.... Ren and Sam busking, mans world, walking on the moon, etc,,,
Yes. This is the metaphor I see. Make a smile, swallow this pill, put on a mask to fit into society. All I am doing is drawing the chalk outline of who I really am.
Great reaction. Liked and subbed
It’s obvious this man reacting is dealing with a lot in his mind. This song really spoke to him. You’re not alone brother.
Thank you for your genuine heartfelt reaction. "Chalk Outlines" touches me deeply no matter how many times I watch this video or hear this song. Ren has been able to express through his songs what I have been unsuccessfully trying to communicate to others regarding my mental, emotional, and physical struggles.
The studio version is also incredible. However, in my personal opinion, it does not come close to the live version. This performance is so much more raw, emotional, and visceral, and Chinchilla's performance here elevates the song to a whole new plain. I wish the live version would be available on Spotify.
Someone (Obj Owl @JoesTheBestInTheWorl) shared his interpretation, I think fittingly so, “The sound of the folding chair opening up fills the empty space with echoes emanating from the walls and then diminishes. Ren uses this to compose the song, with Chalk Outlines representing the empty space that he feels within. Chinchilla, who also emerges from the walls and echos Ren throughout and suitably for an echo, has the last word, leaving a dark empty space. It's dark on the gallows.”
Given Ren's medical history, I interpret this song to address mental illness diagnoses, and prescription psychotropics, which leave you emotionally dead (hence, the chalk outlines around your dead self). Even on a relatively good day when you might not want to take your pills, you take them "just in case," and you never truly enjoy "being ok because all things change," i.e., your well-being is usually short-lived and followed by another bout with depression. In her opening line, Chinchilla even mentions the antidepressant (SSRI) "Sertraline" and references serotonin.
I can attest to the reality of this; for over 15 years, I was prescribed a cocktail of max doses of psychotropics, including Sertraline, until I decided to carefully wean myself off all medications in 2014. The side effects of the drugs were too many and too severe; they left me an emotional zombie, while the benefits were negligible. I lost all capacity to feel love, compassion, or empathy while feelings of anger, and rage remained and were potentiated and frequently dominated my psyche. I am still struggling daily but I rather feel pain than nothing at all.
I would recommend you also check out Ren's other collaboration with Chinchilla, the "How to Be Me" live version, as well as their busking sessions in Brighton, performing “Sexual Healing” (Marvin Gaye cover) and “One Dance / Drunk in love” (Drake/Beyoncé cover). The latter two are of a much more joyful nature. As for "Chalk Outlines," it is one of my favorite songs right now; it is beautiful yet sad.
Looking forward to more Ren reactions from you. God bless.
Great reaction guys ❤
Great analogy! Song hits me everytime ❤❤❤
Enjoyed as always!
LOVE you guys and love your raw and honest reactions. I hope you are safe and well! ❤️
I just found you guys today and really enjoy your reactions so far. Your reaction to George Carlin on religion made me think you would really like a couple of songs, first Judith by A Perfect Circle and second Opiate by Tool. Same song writer and lead singer. You'll enjoy the music and the lyrics. Thanks, Jason
It's a perfect description of the emotional emptiness I felt when taking the anti-depressant, Sertraline. I took it for quite a few years, but ultimately decided that the ups and downs of my depression was preferable to the constant state of numbness caused by the drug.
(Having said that, I may well have not been here to type this, had I not taken anti-depressants)
Beautiful reaction!
You should also check out some Chinchilla her new song 1:5
love u both;)thx for the reaction and greetz from germany!
The power Ren has created with his voice and music is astonishing, he is a true artist. pure in all he creates his art touches everyone in their own interpretations. He and all that work with him are beautiful artists. Thank you both for the reaction video.💫🫶
I've watched a few videos now and you two are very insightful. Great reactions and perspective all around!
Enjoy your reaction, now subbed. Looking forward to going through the rest of your videos. So many wonderful people on TH-cam I didn't know about until Ren brought me there
I love your point of view. Thank you for this
Those two are amazing artists
I couldn't believe yall hadn't done this one!!!
I love you guys! Watching your reaction is reliving the experience.
You might get more insight by watching Ren's 'Ren - Diazepam (Official Visualizer)' video.
The medication causes flattening of emotion, depersonalization, derealization. As also stated in his 'Sick Boi' (if you can watch anymore since his issue with the beats he acquired from Kujo).
That is the 'erasing ourselves' by medication, the hollowness you feel may be relief from your symptoms, but it is trading agony for life as a zombie.
A 'perfect day is a beautiful shame as all things change,' so take the medication just in case, you miss the joy of the day, but you can't take the risk.
'In the gallows I'm balanced on my toes so I can breath'... always on edge, always vigilant, always taking effort just to be.
Yes, it doesn't get more poetic to describe that situation than that.
Ya’ll are always my favorite reactors!
Excellent interpretations! Wonderful expressive faces, too. I've watched many reactions to this song but yours is the best, in my opinion.
I loved your reaction. ❤
Would love to see you to react to them singing “How to be Me”
I’d also highly recommend Chinchillas songs “Fingers” and “Little Girl Gone” the live versions.
Amazing artists, both of them.
I think this is a tragically beautiful song so wonderfully written and their voices harmonised together so well. Please, please, please please please do a reaction to Chinchilla song. 1:5 live. It’s so worth it you won’t regret it.
thank you love you guys and your reactions to my favourite artist ever ❤❤
Beautiful reaction thank you to you both ❤
"This is actually unbelievable."
"He does it every time!"
"The unbelievable thing is that he does it every time!!"
That was hilarious but truer words have never been spoken. Awesome.
Awesome reaction! Thank you.
First time I’ve seen any video from you guys, I love you both x
To me it's about taking anti-depressants. I am on them and it's so true to that. I don't want to be on them but it does feel like I'm struggling to breathe but it does make me dead inside. Great reaction you two. Ren's music is sometimes called bardcore which I agree with. He is a bard in the truest sense.
Beautiful reaction ❤️