This tells the story of a man who comes to the United States. He works hard to bring his family here, make a living, and start a family. However, his family leaves and his wife becomes more concerned with their life style than his (and their) happiness. As time goes on, the burden of supporting this life style gets greater and greater. As the stress builds on him, he prays that his children won't ever have to feel this way as they grow older.
Then the recession hits in 2008 and he takes a major loss. It becomes clear to him that their life cannot be supported but he fears that he will lose his family again (remember the rest of his family left when they came to the country). He's too afraid to confront his wife so he gets deeper and deeper into financial trouble. He gets involved in bad business plans and ultimately commits corporate crimes in hopes of preserving his family and their lifestyle.
The last section of the song describes how he's goes through life pretending that everything is alright when he knows he is destined to fail. "
You'll see I am no criminal ~ I'm down on both bad knees"
This is my favorite line. His fear of losing his family steered him into this problem. He has no intentions of hurting other people. Now he's falling on two bad knees (the product of working his whole life to preserve his American Dream) because he has nowhere but heaven to turn to for help.
This tells the story of a man who comes to the United States. He works hard to bring his family here, make a living, and start a family. However, his family leaves and his wife becomes more concerned with their life style than his (and their) happiness. As time goes on, the burden of supporting this life style gets greater and greater. As the stress builds on him, he prays that his children won't ever have to feel this way as they grow older.
Then the recession hits in 2008 and he takes a major loss. It becomes clear to him that their life cannot be supported but he fears that he will lose his family again (remember the rest of his family left when they came to the country). He's too afraid to confront his wife so he gets deeper and deeper into financial trouble. He gets involved in bad business plans and ultimately commits corporate crimes in hopes of preserving his family and their lifestyle.
The last section of the song describes how he's goes through life pretending that everything is alright when he knows he is destined to fail. "
You'll see I am no criminal ~ I'm down on both bad knees" This is my favorite line. His fear of losing his family steered him into this problem. He has no intentions of hurting other people. Now he's falling on two bad knees (the product of working his whole life to preserve his American Dream) because he has nowhere but heaven to turn to for help.
The irony of the American Dream.
This interpretation is clearly correct.
This interpretation is clearly correct.