Reach For The Bottle [Tommy Shaw]

Reach For The Bottle
Written by Tommy Shaw
Lead Vocals by Tommy Shaw

There's a hole in the picture
There's a flaw in the cloth
There's your favorite sweater
Signature of the moth

Shaky hand on the throttle
Says something's wrong
So you reach for the bottle
And you live the song

There you stand in the kitchen
You're fit and your lean
You've got the heart of a lion
You know you're so damn mean
Put your hands in the water
You feel the drain
But your hands are still dirty
They won't ever come clean

I've been lying to no one but myself
To tell you that there's nothing wrong
Nobody knows the trouble that we've seen
And how we tried to get along

Run to the water
Run to the sun
Run to whatever
'Till the hurting is done
Or we reach for the bottle
When we should put it down
And we start the whole thing over
What goes around comes around

Interpretation

Alcoholism is a terrible curse. You can be physically healthy and have a strong will but still struggle to resist the urge to reach for the bottle. "Run to the water, run to the sun, run to whatever, 'til the hurting is done. Or we reach for the bottle when we should put it down, and we start the whole thing over, what goes around comes around."