Lyric discussion by xxmodernlove 

Okay, to sound completely songmeanings.net cliche, WHY DOESN'T THIS SONG HAVE MORE COMMENTS? I expected there to be at least 100, this song is amazing.

When it starts, I think the kid is just talking about himself, and he knows he's going down the wrong path. He's done some bad things, and made mistakes, and even when he thinks he's doing something better, he isn't. I think it's saying that he thinks it doesn't matter at that moment because he has his whole life ahead of him, but then the narrator is saying that he can't see that far into the future, because he's living on his knees (which I think means he's only living life half, not to the fullest).

Then , I think his dad is the narrator taking to him. He's telling him the happiness he thinks he has isn't really pure, and he's saying to just quit the foolishness and come back home, but the "rocket boy" doesn't want to hear it, and leaves instead of going home, and even though he knows he can't win, he's not going to give in to his father. Even though he resists him, his dad is still there for him and I think essentially he's saying "you're better than this, I know it."

Annnnnnnnnd so, it's Rocket Boy again talking to his dad. I think it's really just like him realizing that he's wrong and he needs to fix everything, saying there was an accident. Perhaps an overdose? Or purely just the whole mess was an accident. So Rocket Boy decides to finally go home, realizing what a situation he was in. My favorite line is "I came this close to being me, but I lost us both" but I don't know what that means as far as the story goes. I guess it's maybe like he thought his life was who he was meant to be, so he chose all the wrong things and instead of thriving, he lost who he really was and he lost who cared for him most.

Last verse, it's his dad talking to him again. Basically I believe he's saying that he's always been his son, but he's never been truly happy with himself as a person, and his dad realizes that he's sad. He's telling him that he's better than this, and he has his whole life to be what's "right."

This is really long, but basically I think it's about a kid who fucked up and his dad welcomed him back home with open arms.

Of course there are always deeper meanings and personal stories behind all of Blake Schwarzenback's songs, but this is how I see it.

"headlights and red eyes a warm beer between your thighs mess of pills hollywood hills red lights, read me my rights"

He's been drinking, doing drugs, and gets arrested while driving.

"goin in a circle gettin tighter every turn think youre getting better but youre never quite sure say its all ahead of you how far can you see youre living on your knees"

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