this song i find extremely touching. while the origins of this song are well-known, coming from Trey's friend Tom, i find joejefferyCT's interpretation insightful and, quite frankly, dead on. getting together with close friends from your past is like going down the number line, you are leaving the present (another layer to add to the lyric "leave the presents all inside") and all other current distractions behind to escape into a time and place in the past, into a mindset and dynamic with close friends of yours from when you were young.
also, with the birthday context (which i love the "happy, happy"), are we really getting "older" with each passing year?
lastly, the ending song off this album joy, "twenty years later" is a perfect closing to this opening song on the album. i find that it was no mistake or coincidence that this was the beginning and "twenty years later" is the end, because, just like birth, we all "start out small."
this song i find extremely touching. while the origins of this song are well-known, coming from Trey's friend Tom, i find joejefferyCT's interpretation insightful and, quite frankly, dead on. getting together with close friends from your past is like going down the number line, you are leaving the present (another layer to add to the lyric "leave the presents all inside") and all other current distractions behind to escape into a time and place in the past, into a mindset and dynamic with close friends of yours from when you were young. also, with the birthday context (which i love the "happy, happy"), are we really getting "older" with each passing year? lastly, the ending song off this album joy, "twenty years later" is a perfect closing to this opening song on the album. i find that it was no mistake or coincidence that this was the beginning and "twenty years later" is the end, because, just like birth, we all "start out small."