There surely is a muted sense of childish perspective that permeates through the song. Not only does it appear in the lyrics ("I learned to drive..grab your mother's keys" stanza 1) but also in the music itself--the simple guitar and piano echoing in the background. As the song progresses, it is noted that there are more twists in musical construction than can be afforded for a pure childish perspective--"moving past the feeling" takes on a rhythmic beat akin to motion. The repetition seems to cry for attention when paired with the serene whine of the violin in the background. All of these seem to confirm and reflect the idea that this is a person looking back on his/her transformation into a new adulthood as a form of adulteration, not a rite of passage.
Whether or not this speaks specifically about a physical apocalypse ("the first bombs fell") or if it is part of a larger metaphysical undoing is likely to be a point of contention. Whichever you decide, I think for the speaker the idea of the latter is just as potent as the former--and neither are mutually exclusive. (The world's end will produce that feeling, and that feeling will feel like a World's end).
The certainty of the oncoming suburban war captures that childhood attraction for ideal with less understanding. A call to arms, for some children, seems heroic. "By the time the first bombs fell" might be an indication of an actual conflict or struggle that they might have to endure, but yields nothing but a sort of callous dismissal when confronting the childhood mind. It never erodes them because they never participate, and in fact leaves them "bored" of war, detatched.
As some of you have pointed out above, the song captures the essence of disillusion quite well. Each stanza provides this sliver of a memory, and each time falls prey to the rhythmic beat of "moving past the feeling." What is left is the haunting "screaming" from his dreams--perhaps once part of a childhood game or even the fear of something minor, now transmuted into the loss of idealism by the waking nightmares all around.
"All of these seem to confirm and reflect the idea that this is a person looking back on his/her transformation into a new adulthood as a form of adulteration, not a rite of passage."
"All of these seem to confirm and reflect the idea that this is a person looking back on his/her transformation into a new adulthood as a form of adulteration, not a rite of passage."
There surely is a muted sense of childish perspective that permeates through the song. Not only does it appear in the lyrics ("I learned to drive..grab your mother's keys" stanza 1) but also in the music itself--the simple guitar and piano echoing in the background. As the song progresses, it is noted that there are more twists in musical construction than can be afforded for a pure childish perspective--"moving past the feeling" takes on a rhythmic beat akin to motion. The repetition seems to cry for attention when paired with the serene whine of the violin in the background. All of these seem to confirm and reflect the idea that this is a person looking back on his/her transformation into a new adulthood as a form of adulteration, not a rite of passage.
Whether or not this speaks specifically about a physical apocalypse ("the first bombs fell") or if it is part of a larger metaphysical undoing is likely to be a point of contention. Whichever you decide, I think for the speaker the idea of the latter is just as potent as the former--and neither are mutually exclusive. (The world's end will produce that feeling, and that feeling will feel like a World's end).
The certainty of the oncoming suburban war captures that childhood attraction for ideal with less understanding. A call to arms, for some children, seems heroic. "By the time the first bombs fell" might be an indication of an actual conflict or struggle that they might have to endure, but yields nothing but a sort of callous dismissal when confronting the childhood mind. It never erodes them because they never participate, and in fact leaves them "bored" of war, detatched.
As some of you have pointed out above, the song captures the essence of disillusion quite well. Each stanza provides this sliver of a memory, and each time falls prey to the rhythmic beat of "moving past the feeling." What is left is the haunting "screaming" from his dreams--perhaps once part of a childhood game or even the fear of something minor, now transmuted into the loss of idealism by the waking nightmares all around.
"All of these seem to confirm and reflect the idea that this is a person looking back on his/her transformation into a new adulthood as a form of adulteration, not a rite of passage."
"All of these seem to confirm and reflect the idea that this is a person looking back on his/her transformation into a new adulthood as a form of adulteration, not a rite of passage."
Well done.
Well done.