Missed the Boat

I love this song. Below is how I interpret the lyrics.

While we're on the subject Could we change the subject now? I was knocking on your ears Don't worry, you were always out Looking towards the future We were begging for the past Well, we know we had the good things But those never seemed to last Oh, please just last

We are too busy regretting the past to plan for the future. We have so many opportunities (knocking on our ears), but we are too busy worrying about the mistakes we have made to take advantage of new opportunities (we were always out). We yearn to return to the good times of the past, hoping they would just last, instead of focusing on the future to create new good times.

Everyone's unhappy Everyone's ashamed Well we all just got caught looking At somebody else's page

Everyone compares themselves to other people, wishing we could have their lives. We're unhappy and ashamed because we believe our life is not good enough compared to others.

Well, nothing ever went Quite exactly as we planned Our ideas held no water But we used them like a dam

People are stubborn. We have a picture of how our life should be, and even if our plans are completely impossible or illogical (they held no water), we stick to them anyway (used them like a dam).

Oh, and we carried it all so well As if we got a new position Oh, and I laugh all the way to hell Saying, "Yes, this is a fine promotion" Oh, and I laugh all the way to hell

This doesn't mean hell in the religious sense. Everyone should know Isaac is an atheist. Hell means a horrible life. We act like things that don't matter do (we carried it all so well), clinging to achievements that don't really make us happy (like a promotion at a job we hate). We laugh all the way to hell, meaning we act like our life is going exactly how we want, when it isn't.

Of course everyone goes crazy Over such and such and such We made ourselves a pillar But we just used it as a crutch We were certainly uncertain At least I'm pretty sure I am Well, we didn't need the water But we just built that good goddamn

This seems like mostly a rehash of previous themes. I'm tempted to think that he means people literally go crazy. Our pillar is the fake "great" life we build for ourselves, used to convince ourselves that our life meant something. No one is ever really sure what they want though. In the end, we realize that most of it didn't matter (we didn't need the water), but we did it anyway. I think it's intentional that it went from "dam" to "goddamn", it shows that as we near the end of our lives, we look back and can really see what didn't matter, which leads to anger and regret.

Oh, and I know this of myself I'd assume as much for other people Oh, and I know this of myself We've listened more to life's end gong Than the sound of life's sweet bells

Isaac is speaking from experience, but it's a good bet that most people feel the same way. We spend so much time planning our life that we miss out on so much. This reminds me of the John Lennon quote: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

Was it ever worth it? Was there all that much to gain? Well, we knew we'd missed the boat And we'd already missed the plane

When we look back, we question our actions. Was it ever worth it to pretend to enjoy life? What did we gain other than fleeting contentment? We always have a nagging feeling that we are making the wrong choice, that we're missing the boat.

We didn't read the invite We just danced at our own wake All our favorites were playing So we could shake, shake, shake, shake, shake

Tiny curtains open and we heard the tiny clap of little hands A tiny man would tell a little joke and get a tiny laugh from all the folks Sitting, drifting around in bubbles and thinking it was us that carried them When we finally got it figured out that we had truly missed the boat

The curtains opening is the end of a show, the end of our lives. We are the tiny man, and the tiny clap is the meager acceptance for our meager accomplishments. We think we're important in peoples' lives (it was us that carried them), but it doesn't even matter. Only at the end do we realize that we lived for all the wrong things, we truly missed the boat.

Oh, and we carried it all so well As if we got a new position Oh, and we owned all the tools ourselves But not the skills to make a shelf with Oh, what useless tools ourselves

Everyone has the opportunity to lead a great, happy life (we owned all the tools ourselves). But we don't know how to do it, how to make the most of our time. "what useless tools ourselves" sums up the entire song: it is about deeply regretting the way we have lived, blaming ourselves for having missed the boat.