I've been puzzling over this one for a little bit, because it does seem to have some kind of unifying narrative/message that would make sense on another level, and I think I've finally come up with something that satisfies me, at least.
The way I'm hearing it, the "jackals" are essentially modern life. He's addressing someone who is sheltering him in some way, dealing with "the business," while he is the dreamer. I'm imagining someone who's buying the cat litter and doing the shopping and taking the car to the shop, while he's doing his musician thing. He knows this person is being sacrificed on some level, but he's wary of participating in life. He'd rather watch from the window. But then as he matures, he does some of that stuff that used to seem mundane (and therefore sinister), and maybe he thinks it's not so bad? Or at least he thinks he can cope. The fact that he's doing okay may hurt the other person who is used to sheltering him. He's trying to console him/her at the end by saying that they're still necessary, he still needs someone to bear the burden of his fears, even though he's mostly cool on his own.
At first I thought this was to a lover, but this song could almost be written to a parent. I also glean meaning from the fact that is the title track to the album. Given that the album is his first, a song about coming of age probably says the most about where he is in his life/career.
I've been puzzling over this one for a little bit, because it does seem to have some kind of unifying narrative/message that would make sense on another level, and I think I've finally come up with something that satisfies me, at least.
The way I'm hearing it, the "jackals" are essentially modern life. He's addressing someone who is sheltering him in some way, dealing with "the business," while he is the dreamer. I'm imagining someone who's buying the cat litter and doing the shopping and taking the car to the shop, while he's doing his musician thing. He knows this person is being sacrificed on some level, but he's wary of participating in life. He'd rather watch from the window. But then as he matures, he does some of that stuff that used to seem mundane (and therefore sinister), and maybe he thinks it's not so bad? Or at least he thinks he can cope. The fact that he's doing okay may hurt the other person who is used to sheltering him. He's trying to console him/her at the end by saying that they're still necessary, he still needs someone to bear the burden of his fears, even though he's mostly cool on his own.
At first I thought this was to a lover, but this song could almost be written to a parent. I also glean meaning from the fact that is the title track to the album. Given that the album is his first, a song about coming of age probably says the most about where he is in his life/career.