Solanine

Album Cover

The second track to Rav's mixtape BENEATH THE TOXIC JUNGLE. The track was immediately followed by Save Face As...

## Meaning

Solanine directly references the manga Solanin (ソラニン), the purpose of this reference correlates to the general theme of the song, with Rav feeling trapped in his current situation, concluding that "this is what real life feels like". The allusions to Solanin represent how he questions if he can "jump the rail of life", make a leap of faith towards a better future he is uncertain of. Being the first full track on the tape, it generally marks Rav's mental state at the beginning of this period of his life, something that will continue to progress over BENEATH THE TOXIC JUNGLE.

Self consumed, in my room pursuing music
Momma asking "Where the fruits is? Why are you useless?
Why are you clueless about the world? Rav, your room stinks!"
She thinks I don't give two shits
Truth is, she might be right
I fail to see the light in both gold and family pride
Am I the catcher in the rye? Batshit in disguise?
Tossed reality for an imaginable life?
Bout to be kicked out the house, get detached from paradise
Only recognize this then, mirror shows a parasite
With a shifty pair of eyes
In this shifting paradigm
I ain't shit, apparently
Parents think that I don't try
Trying to fight the system, bound to play into its hands, man
They say stay grounded, but the floor is lava for the madman
Upside down approach, in the lava doing handstands
Probably ain't no different, just a bad plan

This is what real life feels like
(​​​​​​​This is what it feels like. ​​​​​​​This is what it feels like.)
Whenever you feel nice, realize
(​​​​​​​This is what it feels like)
Yo, I gotta take advice
There's a demon lurking in this town
I gotta jump the rail of life
This is what real life feels like
(​​​​​​​This is what it feels like)
Yup, this is what real life feels like
(​​​​​​​This is what it feels like)

See, this is what it feels like
When nobody looking for you, but you still hide
When you been kicked your habits like the pill life
Took that monkey off your back but it still bites
Will I ever get anywhere but right here?
Chasing happiness but never getting quite near
Every waking moment most vivid of nightmares
I'm weird, fuck it, I'll admit it, man, I ain’t care
And they say he was a thug
I never knew my dad
When my mom looks at me, what it is she looking at?
Ever since I got kicked out of school for cooking crack
Then pushing crack, I wonder if she sees me as my crooked dad
I've fucked up too many times, and I still might
Tried to kill myself and failed, still don't feel alive
Grasping at straws in the dark with no real light
I ain't feeling great
This is what real life feels like
Right?

This is what real life feels like
(​​​​​​​This is what it feels like. ​​​​​​​This is what it feels like.)
Whenever you feel nice, realize
(​​​​​​​This is what it feels like)
Yo, I gotta take advice
There's a demon lurking in this town
I gotta jump the rail of life
This is what real life feels like
(​​​​​​​This is what it feels like)
Yup, this is what real life feels like
(​​​​​​​This is what it feels like)

### Trivia

* The beat of Solanine is taken directly from dream Entact.'s "Remembr."
* Solanine was later directly referenced/followed up by "my time (an optimistic rebuttal)", a track which Rav designed to be reflecting on Solanine 5 years later, however as he originally planned to never release it, it ended up passing said release window.