Ballad of a Comeback Kid

I disagree, because they are Canadian. But I could be wronge. More on this later.

As my screen name implies... This is one of my favourite np songs. Along with The Bleeding Heart Show.

My guess is that this song is about Bill Clinton. When he was running for president in 1992 he was under attack for avoiding the draft and marital infidelity. He made a moving speech in New Hampshire before the primary and the press called him "the comeback kid" after he finished second and eventually won the election.

"settle for free rent the tenements recall Rome"

These lines are about the white house because the president lives there for free, and the architecture of the white house has a roman style.

I’m guessing that the second and third to last stanzas are about Clinton’s “farewell tour” speeches before leaving the white house.

“like a bat out of hell time has come for you”

This suggests that after Clinton serves his eight year tenure, he has to leave office. Time has come for him.

Why can't people write lyrics about people from another country? Neil Young is a Canadian who lives in the USA and wrote a lot of songs about the USA (eg Southern Man, Alabama, Ohio, Rockin' In The Free Worlds).

The New Pornographers spend a lot of time touring in the USA. Neko isn't Canadian.

I didn't mean that Canadians couldn't write songs about the US, I just didn't see why a Canadian would care about an American politician.

Anyway, I think this song might be about high school and trying to fit in, pretending, and being a little fake. "recite your lines and i'll quote scriptures".

The chorus to me sounds like it's about trying to look cool, but being uncomfortable in the situation. The idea of being "crippled in someone else's shoes" sounds to me like pretending to be someone you're not.

"watch your step as you step down from the podium returned from the war to a hero's welcome what's more you just had to win" sounds like a sports superstar to me.

"blazing new trails waving goodbye to the audience held captive the crowd was inactive it made such perfect sense" sounds like a graduation and having to sit through speeches that you don't care about. Everyone else's awards and plans don't matter to you, just like yours don't matter to anyone else.

I think that's it. Anyone else?

I would never have guessed it but i agree with the clinton thing.

It's definitely about a politician, but I can't pin down which one. I know enough about Clinton for this not to really seem to fit him. To me. However, Canadians can and will absolutely write songs about American Presidents. Just listen to "He Lied About Death," by The Stars - posibly the angriest song ever written about Dubya.

A song about Bush coming from any country wouldn't surprise me, however Clinton seems kind of irrelevent.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum was also known as "the comeback kid." This was released in 2003, when Santorum was halfway through his second term in the Senate. He had a history of defeating incumbent Democrats, but was defeated in the 2006 election. I don't know whether it's about Santorum, Clinton or high school, but Santorum would be more relevant than Clinton. The New Pornographers are too cryptic in this song to really analyze, I think.

This is the best New Pornographers song IMO.

Bejar is one hell of a songwriter.