Lyric discussion by poet417 

This song is autobiographical. Mr. Foster was a drug addict in his late teens. Tis correct that this song is about a typical drug addict in Los Angeles (as mentioned by another here) which Mr. Foster knows all too well from personal experience. The lyrics bear this out as they describe the emptiness and realization that this lifestyle was debilitating. However, the official video makes this all the more plain. Using imagery of a metropolis in ruins, a postcard suggesting that the city is a paradise as opposed to the actual ugly hell it is for most, and a clan of seemingly hostile children a la Children of the Corn or Lord of the Flies, who represent those who might try to intervene to save an addict from himself. At first they appear hostile and malevolent but in the end they are in fact the saviors, as they have rescued him and restored his lost youth.

Video is here:

youtube.com/watch

The dog is definitely reminiscent of the Road Warrior's companion in a post apocalyptic world...

Eating the postcard in the end symbolizes the that he has made the decision to never return, to never think of that place again, and his abrupt about-face to join the dancing children indicates that he has embraced his new existence.

Great interpretation, thanks.

This. It's the only thing that makes sense in this song for me. The video is about a young guy trying to quit his habit and, while the process is painful for him, it's even worse for the people aroung (thus, why the guy gets older to get him younger). The references to drugs are plenty, "I tie my hands up to a chair so I don't fall that way" is a typical habit of heroin addicts, where they will tie themselves to solid structures so they don't fall down and faint after their doses... It's pretty said that they called...

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