💫etf appreciation blog💫

My first point before we get into the song lyrics itself, is the title of the song. I believe it’s a play on ‘idol’ which often teens see other musicians as, and TJ Bell was likely not an expectation to that rule, which, like most predators, gives him a position of power, and potential to groom the people he chose to victimize, while Craig remained ‘idle’ (in a sense) and unaware of the violation that someone he called his friend was causing to other people. So, thus the title Idle Potential.

The hourglass on the song’s cover could represent so many things, but I like to imagine it’s representing how Craig knows in post that somehow he was going to find out eventually.

Now, onto a lyrical analysis to support the theory, I won’t cover every line, just verses that I feel are relevant.

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First Verse:

I shed my skin the weight of what I was/A little less regret a little more because/The cracks reveal a better view/

I fall apart and flow into/Another day, another fight/I'm wishing for another life/Got these memories I can't forget/A fragile mind is cancerous.

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This verse goes into Craig’s realization and him finding out about the abuse, “the cracks reveal a better view” plus “got these memories I can’t forget” support this idea. He also acknowledges his guilt growing the more people come out about what TJ did to them.

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Chorus :

I've been wakin' up to the same old messs/Been tryna find a way outta this distress/Stuck up in my head/Knowin' I got idle, idle potential

Got a lotta trauma I can't address/And a million things that I should forget/Runnin' round my head/Knowin' I got idle, idle potential

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This one I find to be a little less sufficient, but I believe it describes Craig post-finding out, and trying to put together what he’s supposed to say to the public, and how to remain professional despite all of it. (“stuck in my head”, “I got a lot of trauma I can’t address” and “running around my head”)

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Second Verse:

They say the climb is worth the fall/But I’ve been bleedin’ just to crawl/I see a stranger in the mirror/Searchin’ for myself in all the failures

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Craig can’t even recognize himself for letting something like what TJ did fly right past him “I see a stranger in the mirror”, ‘Searching for myself in all the failures” could be a further explanation of his guilt.

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Third Verse:

Oh, I wanna know/Is everything I’ve done a waste? I wanna know/Am I a memory just lost in time? A losing fight?/I pick the scars, ignore the signs/ I know, there's no going back

/I know, I gotta face the facts/ I know, put trust in the process/Meditate, medicate, manifest

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This is a big one. He feels like he’s been manipulated himself to giving TJ the platform to hurt the people around him. He feels like he was useless to TJ, and only a tool. Craig acknowledges that he picked up on little signs but brushed them off as nothing, and now he knows he can’t go back and correct himself (“I wanna know is everything I done a waste”, “I pick the scars, ignore the signs”, “I know I gotta face the facts”).

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(Repeated Chorus)

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Bridge:

I wanna reach a higher frequency/Got no one to blame, no one to blame but me/I wanna reach a higher frequency, oh/No one to blame, no one to blame but me

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Self explanatory I believe, unsure if the higher frequency is a metaphor for something? But otherwise, Craig blames himself for not taking the signs he saw seriously.

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(Repeated chorus + end of song)

ANDDDDD that’s the end of my theory!!

Genuinely, let me know what you feel about the song and my theory. This song is incredible and it really resonated with me based after my own life experiences. Hopefully you found this as interesting as did I. I would love confirmation on it but no way are we gonna be told that. ✌️😭