Firstly, I agree with speakerrun that the chorus on the surface appears to be about a gambling addicton: it demeans stayng in the game, as by chosing to gamble you are a "loser" and by choosng to cut your losses you are a "winner".
The verses however seem to be about the music industry:
"And they can keep you around like a head on a stake,
I guess the industry found a use for my name sake."
The industry keeps using him as a poster-boy, he feels he has little control over the use of his image, and it is his image/name and not himself as a person/performer that draws intruige
"I built my callouses up,
from fooling on the guitar.
I keep them hard in the midst of what seems soft and bizarre."
the industry demands a "soft and bizarre" image and the juxaposition of the hard calouses acts to cast the industry in a bizzare light
"And ephemeral notions like a song are a curse,
offering a return but making me feel worse."
The industry and song writing are more pain than gain/return
"So I sit in the meantime and sharpen my teeth,
And encode all the bitterness I choose to bequeath,
But if 1 = C then your A = 3 but the encryption just adds to the mendacity."
Once again he loathes "bequeathing bitterness", but he chooses to keep doing it in order to stay in the game. He really doesn't like what he is dong an aknowledges that it is only temporary ("in the meantime")
"Now I'm on top of the water,
Still suppressed by the air."
One of the best in his field, still anlysed by media and consumers and controled by the industry players
"I earn my wage on a track that's almost totally bare,"
once again the loathing of his career choice comes through, it is an uncomfortable "bare" existance
"Of the things I expected when I first got the itch,
I'd turn it off if only there existed a switch."
All the things that drew him down this path become part of the trappings that inavoidably keep him here
Read in the light of the verses, the chorus then acts as an extended metaphor.
On the surface the chorus is about gambling. The music industry is a gamble that "winners" gently bow out of before they are tired out. In the end we are left with the note "by then I bet you'll be gone", which is cleaverly dichotomous: he hopes he will be a "winner" and have bowed out, but at present he is still betting, still gambling, and still playing the music game.
Firstly, I agree with speakerrun that the chorus on the surface appears to be about a gambling addicton: it demeans stayng in the game, as by chosing to gamble you are a "loser" and by choosng to cut your losses you are a "winner".
The verses however seem to be about the music industry:
"And they can keep you around like a head on a stake, I guess the industry found a use for my name sake."
"I built my callouses up, from fooling on the guitar. I keep them hard in the midst of what seems soft and bizarre."
"And ephemeral notions like a song are a curse, offering a return but making me feel worse."
"So I sit in the meantime and sharpen my teeth, And encode all the bitterness I choose to bequeath, But if 1 = C then your A = 3 but the encryption just adds to the mendacity."
"Now I'm on top of the water, Still suppressed by the air."
"I earn my wage on a track that's almost totally bare,"
"Of the things I expected when I first got the itch, I'd turn it off if only there existed a switch."
Read in the light of the verses, the chorus then acts as an extended metaphor.
On the surface the chorus is about gambling. The music industry is a gamble that "winners" gently bow out of before they are tired out. In the end we are left with the note "by then I bet you'll be gone", which is cleaverly dichotomous: he hopes he will be a "winner" and have bowed out, but at present he is still betting, still gambling, and still playing the music game.