Doechii – Anxiety. Lyrics & Meaning
Doechii – Anxiety: An Unfiltered Glimpse into the Mind’s Loudest Battle
Ever get that creeping feeling in the pit of your stomach for no reason at all? That sudden tightness in your chest when everything is supposedly fine? It’s like a shadow that follows you into a well-lit room, a quiet hum that you can’t quite tune out. It’s a feeling that millions of us know all too well, but it’s so hard to put into words.
Well, what if I told you an artist managed to bottle up that exact, chaotic feeling and turn it into a track you can’t stop replaying? That’s precisely what Doechii does in her song “Anxiety.” This isn’t just a song with a sad theme; it’s a raw, unfiltered audio diary of what it’s like to live with that uninvited guest in your head. Let’s dive into how she perfectly captures this universal struggle.
Let’s Unpack Doechii’s Haunting Track “Anxiety”
Right from the get-go, Doechii doesn’t just sing about anxiety; she personifies it. She gives it a voice and a motive. It’s not just a feeling; it’s an active antagonist in her life, a persistent bully that won’t leave her alone. The chorus is a perfect confession of this ongoing fight.
Anxiety
Keep on trying me
I feel it quietly
Tryna silence me
See? It’s not “I feel anxious.” It’s “Anxiety… keep on trying me.” She’s talking directly to it. The use of “quietly” is so brilliant because that’s exactly how it starts—as a subtle, internal whisper before it grows into a roar that tries to “silence” your true self.
The Chaos of a Racing Mind
One of the most relatable parts of anxiety is how it completely scrambles your thoughts. One minute you’re thinking about your career, the next you’re worried about a weird noise the fridge is making. Doechii nails this mental whiplash in her first verse. It’s a jumble of flexing, insecurity, and random thoughts that feels incredibly authentic.
Solo, no mojo
I bounce back, no pogo
Unhappy, no homo
New brands, no logos
She jumps from feeling down (“Solo, no mojo”) to boasting about her resilience (“I bounce back”), then throws in a seemingly random line about brands. This isn’t lazy songwriting; it’s a masterful depiction of a mind that can’t stay on one track. It’s the internal monologue of someone trying to project confidence while their brain is firing off in a million different directions. It’s chaotic, a little confusing, and so real.
Life as a Performance Under Pressure
Later in the song, Doechii introduces a powerful metaphor that paints a vivid picture of her experience. It feels less like she’s living her life and more like she’s being forced to perform in a movie directed by her own anxiety.
Quiet on the set, please
Rolling anxiety in three, two, one
This part gives me chills every time. It’s the idea that you have to put on a brave face, to “act” normal, while internally, the cameras are rolling on your biggest fear. It perfectly captures that feeling of being watched and judged, even when you’re alone. The pressure is on, and anxiety is calling the shots.
More Than a Feeling: The Physical and Social Weight
Doechii doesn’t stop at the mental aspect. She explores the crushing physical sensations and the external, societal pressures that compound the feeling, making it so much heavier.
The Elephant on Your Chest
In a raw, spoken-word moment, she drops one of the most visceral descriptions of a panic attack I’ve ever heard in a song.
And it’s like, I get this tightness in my chest
Like an elephant is standing on me
And I just let it take over
There’s no complex poetry here, just brutal honesty. Anyone who’s felt the physical grip of anxiety knows exactly what she means. It’s that suffocating weight that makes it hard to breathe, a feeling so overwhelming that sometimes all you can do is surrender to it for a moment.
The External Fears
But the anxiety isn’t just internal. Doechii widens the lens to include social and systemic fears, especially as a Black woman in America. The “Marco Polo” section is a stark shift in tone, bringing in the very real anxiety of racial profiling and police brutality.
Marco (Marco), Polo (Polo)
Negro run from popo (Popo)
This isn’t just a random tangent. She’s showing that her anxiety is layered. It’s the personal, internal struggle mixed with the heavy, external fear that comes with her identity. It’s a powerful reminder that anxiety can be fueled by very real dangers in the world around us.
What Doechii gives us with “Anxiety” is not a solution, but something far more valuable: validation. The song’s message isn’t about “getting over it” or “just thinking positive.” Instead, its power lies in its raw honesty. The constant repetition of “It’s my anxiety, can’t shake it off of me” isn’t a cry of defeat; it’s an act of acknowledgement. It’s about looking this immense struggle in the face and calling it by its name. There’s a strange strength in that, in admitting that the fight is real and it’s ongoing.
But hey, that’s just my take on this incredible track. Music is so personal, and the beauty of a song like this is that it can mean different things to different people. What did you feel when you first heard “Anxiety”? Did any particular line stand out to you? Let’s talk about it!
