Rocket Boy

Of course there are always deeper meanings and personal stories behind all of Blake Schwarzenbach's songs, but this is how I see it.

"headlights and red eyes a warm beer between your thighs mess of pills hollywood hills red lights, read me my rights"

He's been drinking, doing drugs, and gets arrested while driving.

"goin in a circle gettin tighter every turn think youre getting better but youre never quite sure say its all ahead of you how far can you see youre living on your knees"

He keeps doing the same things. He's in denial that those things aren't helping him.

"driver please find your feet the lights green but you spaced the keys youre goin fast but it wont last youre all speed and no gas"

He has potential to do something with his life, but he's failing to do so. He's high on drugs all the time (possibly speed), and he knows his life is stalling because of it.

"goin in a circle never getting to the point burning up the atmosphere my rocketship boy you say theres a finish line youre already beat youre livin on your knees my only son you look so sad but youre so young you get so high you're all alone rocketboy come home"

The way he's living is destroying his life. Maybe he keeps saying to himself or others that he's going to quit, but he's already screwed up. He's on his knees (debilitated from drugs), so he can't see his future. He's still young in life, and he's very sad. He's a rocketboy cos he's "high" in space, where nobody else is. He's all alone.

"notebook, some notes you took a big head, with a crooked hook your best friend is you again you cant win, but you wont give in"

It's hard to tell what the first two lines are about, but I think maybe he found some old notes of his that he either wrote before the drugs started destroying him, or maybe notes he wrote to himself about how he has to quit. Maybe he's analyzing what he looks like in a mirror. He feels like he doesn't have any friends anymore, probably because he alienated himself, and he's the only one that can help himself. He thinks he can't make things better, but he's too stubborn to quit trying.

"goin in a circle gettin lower every time say it isnt hurting but i never see you smile asking for the doctor and calling you a priest youre livin on your knees rocketboy you burn so bright and i believe you light so beautifully when you get high you're all alone rocketboy come home"

His addiction keeps on making his life worse and worse. He keeps saying to himself that he's fine and not in pain, but he is. He's in such a bad way that he could die. He still has so much potential, and he burns bright in life. He could do so much with his life if he wanted to. He's unique and special.

"dad its me again, i hate to call could you come down, theres been an accident with you involved yes sir, no sir they say im worse"

This could be read in numerous ways (just like all of Blake's music, you'd need to hear the meaning straight from him, which in a way, would remove some of the magicalness of his songs.) He's gotten in some kind of accident and calls his father. I'm thinking that it's possible his Dad is actually dead, maybe from a car accident or drugs himself, and he's asking him to come down from Heaven. But that could just be my overactive imagination, heh. I think the questions his Dad is asking him are, "Are you on something? Are you safe and okay?" to which he replies, "Yes sir, no sir, they say I'm worse."

"got home, cried alone a video was surely shown no one knows i came this close to being me, but i lost us both"

When he got home, he cried. Maybe he was watching a home movie of when he was younger, or a video of him was shown to someone else? Or maybe a video was shown at somebody's funeral. I'm not sure. He had been really close to finding his way in life, but he lost the person he was then, and he's lost now.

"goin in a circle and its keepin you around you've been here forever but youve never been found you didn't want a witness and i didn't want to see you're livin on your knees rocketboy my only son you look so sad but youre so young you get so high you're all alone rocketboy come home"

I think he's either talking about drugs or himself. He didn't want to see what he was doing to himself. He wanted to be in denial of his addiction.

No matter what way you see it, it's a very emotional song. I'll always love JTB, Jawbreaker, and anything else Mr. Schwarzenbach creates. And even though we've never met dear reader, I love you too, for we share the same taste in amazing, thought provoking, heart touching music.

You're all alone rocketboy. Come home.

This song always makes me cry, i want to give Blake a big hug! I think its about never feeling the hes suceeding.

corrections

my only son rocket boy, my only son

asking for the doctor and calling you a priest asking for the doctor and i'm calling you a priest

you light so beautifully you lie so beautifully

a video was surely shown the video will sureley show

i didn't want to see you're livin on your knees i didn't want to see you living on your knees

I'm surprised so few have commented on this song... it's really something incredible to listen to. In my opinion I think that Blake wrote this song about himself. I know he's struggled through depression over the course of his live, and this song seems to refer to the use of drugs as a way to cope with that depression.

This is a great song and I think it kind of embodies all of perfecting lonliness. The cover of the album and the song kind of go together...at least in my mind. (my mom found the lyrics of it on my bed and thought I was suicidal...hmmm). I don't know if this is personal experience, or just a story Blake is trying to tell, as many of his songs are. Either was it's a beautifully sad song and ends the album perfectly. And since we haven't heard from JTB since their last August tour, and their website is gone (and hadn't been updated since march 2003),..perhaps it's the ending song of JTB altogether...though I really hope I'm wrong.

I do not believe that they are completely lost and gone! The website(s) going down is(are) a poor omen, but the one ray of light can be found in the fact that Blake was giddy over finding a replacement for Chris. I can't recall this article, but it did exist.

this song reminds me a lot of "accident prone" by jawbreaker. blake's been quoted, describing that song as about "a winter full of accidents" or something like that (used to be on the blackball records site, can't find it now). the reference to an accident here may very well be the same accident mentioned in "accident prone" written so many years earlier. i know blake broke his leg, mainly through the allusion in the bad astronaut song "unlucky stuntman."

as for the bulk of it, i think this song describes leaving home for the first time, and how drastically that changes your life. this could refer to blake's time at NYU, or maybe just time spent on the road with jawbreaker.

either way, it's about coming down from a great height, whether that be the initial excitement of college, or the initial excitement of jawbreaker's success. eventually, things begin to change, and loneliness and depression take hold.

gah, i can't even begin to explain how deep i think this song goes.

Okay, to sound completely songmeanings.net cliche, WHY DOESN'T THIS SONG HAVE MORE COMMENTS? I expected there to be at least 100, this song is amazing.

When it starts, I think the kid is just talking about himself, and he knows he's going down the wrong path. He's done some bad things, and made mistakes, and even when he thinks he's doing something better, he isn't. I think it's saying that he thinks it doesn't matter at that moment because he has his whole life ahead of him, but then the narrator is saying that he can't see that far into the future, because he's living on his knees (which I think means he's only living life half, not to the fullest).

Then , I think his dad is the narrator taking to him. He's telling him the happiness he thinks he has isn't really pure, and he's saying to just quit the foolishness and come back home, but the "rocket boy" doesn't want to hear it, and leaves instead of going home, and even though he knows he can't win, he's not going to give in to his father. Even though he resists him, his dad is still there for him and I think essentially he's saying "you're better than this, I know it."

Annnnnnnnnd so, it's Rocket Boy again talking to his dad. I think it's really just like him realizing that he's wrong and he needs to fix everything, saying there was an accident. Perhaps an overdose? Or purely just the whole mess was an accident. So Rocket Boy decides to finally go home, realizing what a situation he was in. My favorite line is "I came this close to being me, but I lost us both" but I don't know what that means as far as the story goes. I guess it's maybe like he thought his life was who he was meant to be, so he chose all the wrong things and instead of thriving, he lost who he really was and he lost who cared for him most.

Last verse, it's his dad talking to him again. Basically I believe he's saying that he's always been his son, but he's never been truly happy with himself as a person, and his dad realizes that he's sad. He's telling him that he's better than this, and he has his whole life to be what's "right."

This is really long, but basically I think it's about a kid who fucked up and his dad welcomed him back home with open arms.

I'm pretty sure the lines about his dad are:

Dad, it's me, again. I hate to call. Could you come down? There's been an accident. "Were you involved?" "Yes, sir, no. Sir, they say I was." Not worse.

It makes more sense that way. He gets into an accident and is taken into custody (standard protocol for drunk driving, especially when there's been an accident. His dad asks if he was involved. "Yes, sir.". Are you hurt? "No sir." Were you intoxicated? "They say I was."

It makes more since considering that the song seems to be about a spiral of addiction. He gets into an accident and calls his dad to pick him up from the police station. His dad asks

One of the few songs that has made me cry.