I agree that there appear to be some of his famous Anne Frank reference in this song, but I remember hearing that this song is about a girl he once knew, and he wasn't there for her in a time of need, and he has a lot of regret about it. He won't talk about it any more than that because it is so personal, so here is how I interpret what happened with that girl as he describes it in this amazing song: it seems to be about a girl who lives a really crappy life ("trailer park", her dad left her family and is "making fetuses" with trashy ladies). She thinks she has friends, but they aren't even there for her ("letting you blow", "there isn't such one friend that you can find here"). She tries to stay "bright and bubbly" because she has hope that things can get better ("chasing the only meaningful memory you thought you had left"), maybe because of him (the narrator of the song). Her memory may be of him as her first love--he took her out to football games, had sex with her, but then he dumped her. She was still trying to believe in him, but he let her down ("all you were needing when you still believed in me") and she is now totally alone.
He's looking back on all of this now, thinking about how he let her down, and regretting it, wanting to make things better, but she is dead. And he wishes he could go back and make things better ("wished I could save her in some sort of time machine"), but it's too late. He now realizes he was actually her enemy, not her friend--There's something about how he sings "we know who our enemies are" that seems to say, "No, we don't, and sometimes the people we think are our friends are just the opposite".
This is such a sad, beautiful song. I have thought for a long time that it is similar in tone and plot to an amazing novel called "The Book of Ruth". If you love this song, you might be amazed when you read the book by how strikingly similar it feels. And no, seeing the crappy TV movie they made based on the book doesn't count.
I agree that there appear to be some of his famous Anne Frank reference in this song, but I remember hearing that this song is about a girl he once knew, and he wasn't there for her in a time of need, and he has a lot of regret about it. He won't talk about it any more than that because it is so personal, so here is how I interpret what happened with that girl as he describes it in this amazing song: it seems to be about a girl who lives a really crappy life ("trailer park", her dad left her family and is "making fetuses" with trashy ladies). She thinks she has friends, but they aren't even there for her ("letting you blow", "there isn't such one friend that you can find here"). She tries to stay "bright and bubbly" because she has hope that things can get better ("chasing the only meaningful memory you thought you had left"), maybe because of him (the narrator of the song). Her memory may be of him as her first love--he took her out to football games, had sex with her, but then he dumped her. She was still trying to believe in him, but he let her down ("all you were needing when you still believed in me") and she is now totally alone.
He's looking back on all of this now, thinking about how he let her down, and regretting it, wanting to make things better, but she is dead. And he wishes he could go back and make things better ("wished I could save her in some sort of time machine"), but it's too late. He now realizes he was actually her enemy, not her friend--There's something about how he sings "we know who our enemies are" that seems to say, "No, we don't, and sometimes the people we think are our friends are just the opposite".
This is such a sad, beautiful song. I have thought for a long time that it is similar in tone and plot to an amazing novel called "The Book of Ruth". If you love this song, you might be amazed when you read the book by how strikingly similar it feels. And no, seeing the crappy TV movie they made based on the book doesn't count.
thank you for your comment.
thank you for your comment.