I heard that you went out last night
And you looked beautiful
Just like a bat beneath the moonlight
I stayed home took a Vicodin
Sometimes it's all that I can do
When I think about the president
How did he become the president?

And I stayed awake for a day or two
I thought about the world
Drank gin and watched the news
And there are some things I'll never understand
Why a country needs a god and a woman needs a man

And you never write me letters
And you never sent my sweaters
So I could stay warm when I was without you
Without you I don't sleep
Just dream...

And I scratched these words into a black notebook
I wrote your name on top, I knew you'd never look
I tried my best to fight the atmosphere
To think the happy thoughts that leave the phone lines clear
I see Arizona stars from here
But Peter Pan is miles away

And you never write me letters
And you never sent my sweaters
So I could stay warm when I was without you
Without you I don't have
A place that's safe from all the monsters
That hide in my head & sing me to sleep
Sleep
This is the last straw
"This is the last straw," she said,
"I won't wait for you forever
While you run around like JFK.
We watched that poor girl waste the best years of her life
And I'll be damned if I'm going out,
I will not go out that way."

And you never write me letters
And you never sent my sweaters
So you could stay warm when I was gone
Without you I don't have
A place that's safe from all the monsters
That hide in my head & keep me 'til dawn
I think this is the last straw



Lyrics submitted by nikki04

Track duration: 04:06


Last Straw song meanings
Add your thoughts

53 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment:Well now that the Dear Jack film has been released, they mention that this entire album is about a breakup with his long-term ex-girlfriend (who is now currently his wife).
    Flag lexisbitteron November 03, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song has a lot of connections that would relate to alot of people,
    its could be about long distance relationships, breaking up, cheating, polotics, everything it has relivance to everything
    Flag MaddS2on March 11, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:im getting:

    i see arizona stars from here
    but peterpan is miles away


    tattooed on my chest in a couple of months, andrew has always the best lyrics be it with soco or jacks mannequin, he is one of the best
    Flag AVALWFOBon January 29, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I see Arizona stars from here,
    But Peter Pan is miles away.

    Wow, that's just... amazing. Andrew's brilliant.
    I love Peter Pan, it's cool he mentioned it.
    This song, I could listen to it on repeat forever.
    Flag HighSchoolHighsCoolon October 08, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:so i'm probably gonna get ripped to shreds, but whatever. when i listened to this song i didn't quite get it, but i realized that this seems to work almost better if sung from a girl's perspective. i know it's not true, but my imagination formulated andrew finding this notebook from a girl he had a messy relationship with, and then took the words he read directly and put them into a song.
    Flag Ah Me Audreyon September 18, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:yeah, i was probably at that same concert in 06' where he played this at U of Illinois, songs about this girl dumping him and he drinks his ass off and watches CNN for two days straight.
    Flag dewthelewon September 07, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:His girlfriend broke up with him, and he's wallowing in self-pity.

    A friend told him he'd seen the girl out one night and she looked great, and he's pissed that she doesn't miss him. He's drinking, and random thoughts ("I thought about the world") like the president come to mind.

    "Why a woman needs a man" obviously refers to the fact that he can't understand why she's out with other guys already, as if she needs a man in her life to be happy.

    "I wrote your name on top, I knew you'd never look" is referring to how they broke up and she has no intentions of being with him again.

    He's trying his best to "think happy thoughts" and "leave the phonelines clear", meaning he doesn't want to break down and call her.

    "This is the last straw," she said.
    "I won't wait for you forever, while you run around like JFK" refers to the girl's reasons for breaking up with him. As a musician, he's on the road and never at home, just like JFK criss-crossing the country to speak and meet with people.

    "We watched that poor girl waste the best years of her life, and I'll be damned if I'm going out, I will not go out that way". This is the girl telling him she refuses to follow him around and tagalong as he lives out his dream, like Jackie Kennedy followed JFK around, only to have her life ruined when his dream caused his death.

    So basically, he's being pathetic after being dumped and hearing that his girl is doing fine without him.
    Flag silentmuffinon August 24, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:the president line is obviously just a random line he threw in there describing his nigth thinking about his girlfriend and all the other shit in his present life...but the song is obviously about a long distant relationship and i dont think he cheated but the jfk line is referring to john f kennedy and how he cheated on his wife jackie with whoever he wanted and she stayed with him through everything, and wasted all her young years trying to keep the family together while he was out cheating and going out without her...so hes away from her, having a great time and shes just waiting on him and just wasting her years on him and she can't do that. and he realizes he lost her because he loves touring and performing, he cant see her
    Flag nikillyon June 15, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I read somewhere that Andrew wrote this after his best friend called him up a couple days after him and his ex broke up and told him how hot she looked. And that same night was the elections, and he sat in his apartment for 2 days drinking and took a vicodin, because he was depressed. I think ohYOseejay has the right theme in which what was going through his head when he wrote this
    Flag tulipsareblueon May 29, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"I heard that you went out last night
    And you looked beautiful
    Just like a bat beneath the moonlight
    I stayed home took a Vicodin
    Sometimes it's all that I can do
    When I think about the president
    How did he become the president?"

    I think this is about
    she went out one night, and looked beautiful,
    while he was at home trying to get over her and take away the pain with the pills, and the president part is I think, hes talking about how her new man is her "president" and he wants to know why he was choosen.

    "And there are some things I'll never understand
    Why a country needs a god and a woman needs a man"
    I think this means why does she always need to "worship" someone and mostly a man

    "And you never write me letters
    And you never sent my sweaters
    So I could stay warm when I was without you
    Without you I don't sleep
    Just dream..."
    I think thats about how she never gave him his sweaters back, and he makes it in to a sign of how much he needs her.

    "And I scratched these words into a black notebook
    I wrote your name on top, I knew you'd never look
    I tried my best to fight the atmosphere
    To think the happy thoughts that leave the phone lines clear
    I see Arizona stars from here
    But Peter Pan is miles away"

    I think this is about how shes not coming back so she wont see the black notebook, and she maybe lives in arizona but he can see the same stars, and shes considered "peter pan" because she was his magic.

    "This is the last straw
    "This is the last straw," she said,
    "I won't wait for you forever
    While you run around like JFK.
    We watched that poor girl waste the best years of her life
    And I'll be damned if I'm going out,
    I will not go out that way."

    he cheated on her, and she doesnt want to end up like that in that situation so shes done.

    I think tha last sentance is either that he wants to kill himself, or hes repeating her words(:
    Flag xxlucyxx_08on May 15, 2008   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain