I am sure traveling is a part of it since the Avett Brothers are on the road often, but I don't think that's the focus here. I think the theme is that life is a gamble. You can't control the outcome of everything in your life, but you can control giving it a try.
"And my life is but a coin, pulled from an empty pocket
Dropped into a slot with dreams of sevens close behind
And hope and fear go with it, and moon and the sun go spinning
Like the numbers and fruits before my eyes
Sometimes I hit, sometimes it robs me blind"
This is pretty clear saying that you have one try with your life, and while you cannot control winning you control the action of doing. Then they relate this back to their own life experiences in the first verse—"Once I was a carpenter, man my hands were calloused. I could swing a metal mallet sure and straight. But I took to the highway, a poet young and hungry and I left the timbers where they lay." They had an established life before becoming touring musicians, but they took a risk and pursued a life of music which brought both lows and highs.
I am sure traveling is a part of it since the Avett Brothers are on the road often, but I don't think that's the focus here. I think the theme is that life is a gamble. You can't control the outcome of everything in your life, but you can control giving it a try.
"And my life is but a coin, pulled from an empty pocket Dropped into a slot with dreams of sevens close behind And hope and fear go with it, and moon and the sun go spinning Like the numbers and fruits before my eyes Sometimes I hit, sometimes it robs me blind"
This is pretty clear saying that you have one try with your life, and while you cannot control winning you control the action of doing. Then they relate this back to their own life experiences in the first verse—"Once I was a carpenter, man my hands were calloused. I could swing a metal mallet sure and straight. But I took to the highway, a poet young and hungry and I left the timbers where they lay." They had an established life before becoming touring musicians, but they took a risk and pursued a life of music which brought both lows and highs.