2009 by Mac Miller is my favorite song by the late artist, and it’s one of his more misunderstood and overlooked tracks, with most glossing over it and labeling it as just him missing the old days in 2009. But it’s not that at all. And I would like to break it down and explain why it’s my favorite song and such an important song for his album Swimming.
2009 is not a song of reminiscence. It’s the song where Mac finally finds his inner peace and recounts his path to get there.
We see that in lyrics like “Yeah, okay you gotta jump in to swim. Well, the light was dim in this life of sin. Now every day I wake up and breathe. I don’t have it all but that’s alright with me.” He talks about how his life had been dark due to his battles with addiction, and that nowadays he’s found peace with himself and has completely changed his perspective on the world. He admits that he doesn’t have all the answers or everything he wants in life, but he’s okay with that and is just enjoying the journey.
In his next lyrics, he talks about how sometimes he wishes he hadn’t pursued music because of all the bad that came with it, “And sometimes, sometimes I wish I took a simpler route. Instead of having demons that’s as big as my house.” Regarding his mental health problems and addictions. Also saying “Isn’t it funny? We can make a lot of money. Buy a lot of things just to feel a lot of ugly.” He is talking about how no matter how much money he made it never made him feel any better, and all the materialistic things in the world can’t fix what’s bothering you. He goes on for the rest of the song about finding peace and what he learned along the way, in lyrics like “Take my time to finish, mind my business. A life ain’t a life till you live it. I was digging me a hole, big enough to bury my soul. Weight of the world I gotta carry my own.” This is about how he almost lost who he was because of the drugs and how he carried the weight of the world before he learned to carry his own.
This song is so powerful because so much music we see is about the battle of addictions and mental health issues, but this was a beacon of hope showing what it’s like on the other side, finding inner peace and defeating your demons. Mac showed us that you can find peace in yourself and learn to put yourself first. You can find your happiness and deal with your own problems and weight instead of taking on the world’s problems before you help yourself.
2009 speaks to me because it’s really hard to remember to put yourself first and take care of yourself and your problems before you go and help everyone else. No one benefits if you try to save someone else but you’re both drowning. You need to get to shore and then help those who can’t, not the other way around. And you can find your own inner peace, no matter what you’re going through.
