Have you ever felt trapped in your mind? 

Have you ever felt so consumed by your thoughts that you would do anything to stop thinking? You would do anything for silence. Anything to be in control of your mind.

I have. 

I have desperately needed a break from my thoughts. And I’m not the only one that has. Alec Benjamin’s new song is about that exactly. Mind is a Prison is his cry for help. He’s trapped in his mind and can’t get out. He’s trying to escape, but to him, there is no way.

I enjoyed the song Mind is a Prison because Benjamin is being vulnerable with those who care to listen. He is expressing how he feels, and he is doing so, openly and honestly. 

“I don’t live in California, I’ll inform you, that’s not where I reside

I’m just a tenant, paying rent inside this body and I 

Got two windows, and those windows, well, I call them my eyes

I’m just going where the wind blows, I don’t get to decide.”

Powerful. That is the very first word that popped into my head when I heard the first part of the song. He is a prisoner inside his own head, and his only windows are his eyes. He can’t control his thoughts. Benjamin is stuck—unable to move. I had to know more. 

Have you ever thought so much about something that it made you exhausted?

In his new single, Benjamin exclaims “Sometimes, I think too much.” Don’t we all at some point? Think too much. He proceeds to admit, “I’m always stuck in my head. I wish I could escape.”

He continues by explaining his desire to escape his mind, but “they” end up catching him and putting him back in his “cell.” 

I’m not sure as to who “they” are, but the lyrics of the song leads me to think that “they” are his thoughts. When his thoughts lock him back up in his cell, he, once again, begins to think he will never get out. 

Though he feels as if there is no way out, he doesn’t give up hope. 

“I won’t give up on hope, secure another rope and try for another day.”

He wants to believe that he can be free of his own thoughts. Despite the feeling of being imprisoned by his own mind, he has hope to hold onto. He has hope for a better mindset. At that point, Benjamin turned from pessimism to optimism. 

Apart from the actual storyline of this beautifully put together song—like many other songs of his—it’s catchy and interesting. Right from the get-go, he convinces you to listen further. He compares windows and eyes. He compares prisons and minds. But, the best part is it makes sense. 

So often I find myself drowning in my own thoughts—in my own mind. I feel trapped as if I am in a prison cell.  As if my only windows are simply the eyes I see with. Why is that?

This song has compelled me to ponder these questions: Why do we allow our thoughts to control us? How do we stop that? How do we escape the control our mind has over us?