So Come Back, I Am Waiting

I think, personally, that this song (and the whole album) is either about how the 'Black Sheep Boy' is an aspect of all of us, how we all have some of him within our psyche, or that he is a type of person.

This really comes through, to me anyway, in this song. I think Will is describing all the aspects of him here; how the Black Sheep Boy can be a drug abuser ('A black sheep boy revolves over canyons and waterfalls. A black sheep boy dissolves in syringe or in a shower stall'), a romantic ('He says there's plenty of time to make you mine tonight, there's plenty of time to make you mine') with a love of life, or unwillingness to let it go ('He says there's plenty of ways to know you're not dying, all right. Hell, there's plenty of light still left in your eye').

He's a performer ('A black sheep boy grows horns, breathing smoke through his microphone. The airwaves stretch and they groan, bleeding, birthing his black diapason.'). He's universal, unspecific to the clothes your wear ('He says there's plenty of things to wear when you come to me, every color of sleeve to be rolled.') - clothing being indicative of the part of society in which you try to place yourself - and unspecific to language or national boundaries ('There are millions of rolling eyes that still cling to me. Every language of king is concerned.'). Perhaps rejecting religion, as he 'bawls' or shouts through the 'old holy song' written by a 'liar' who laughed as he composed it('So why did you bawl from the spell of some old holy song, that some liar laughed as he composed - ')

The Black Sheep Boy is there through the fun ('A black sheep boy dissolves in hot cream, in sweet moans') and the trauma ('in each dead bed and empty home'), he's within everything ('in each seething bacterium.'), but a destructive influence ('killing softly and serial'), and maybe physically or socially impressive; he has a presence ('he lifts his head, handsome, horned, magisterial'). He could be unexpected or surprising ('He's the smell of the moonlight wisteria')- got kinda stuck here I must admit, having not really smelled moonlight wisteria myself - and he's that feeling of the first time for anything and everything... (He's the thrill of the abecedarian.')

We all have to rely on him sometimes to get us through, whether he's within us or is an actual type of person ('See the muddy hoofprints where he carried you?').

But he's divisive, he causes upset or conflict; he's controversial (And there's plenty of ways to claim his crimes tonight, and there's plenty of things to do on his dime. And there's plenty of ways to wear his hide tonight. You've got yours and I've got mine'). He'll infuriate, frustrate and exhaust you but he's addictive; a magnetic, creative influence('So why did you flee? Don't you know you can't leave his control, only call all his wild works your own?').

And he knows you'll be back, despite the inevitable conflicts, despite what other people think of him - 'hated and damned' - to 'take them all on' and struggle with him. The Black Sheep Boy eventually becomes a Black Sheep Man, ready to make you his lamb, to shape the new breed of Black Sheep... ('So come back and well take them all on. So come back to your life on the lam. So come back to your old black sheep man. He says I am waiting on hoof and on hand. I am waiting, all hated and damned. I am waiting - I snort and I stamp. I am waiting, you know that I am, calmly waiting to make you my lamb.')

This all kind of fits with the whole rock-star thing, but I think all rock-stars are Black Sheep first and foremost anyway.

And that's what I think, anyway. Sorry I kind of went on a bit, thanks to anyone who read it.

Yeah, Tim Hardin was the inspiration and the catalyst for most of the album, but the Black Sheep Boy concept also seems to mean simply the dark side of one's self, the selfish and proud and powerful side that it's considered "weak" to indulge in. This, of course, also relates to the heroin but it doesn't seem to be entirely boxed in by the drug.

i find it funny that people think think that song has anything at all to do with your prototypical love story...completely not the case...

the hardin refrences are right, i suppose...im am aware of sheff's fascination for hardin...and this song is certainly about drug use, particulary heroin...

but it is just as much about the "devil" -- so to speak -- taking control of ones life...and how its impossible to break that spell, especially for a drug user...

sheff cleary personifies the devil in this song...the verses that begin with "says" are for all intents and purposes the "devil" speaking...

the beauty of this song is the dichotomy of sheff looking at this possession and addiction with both admiration and torment...he admits/celebrates its beauty, yet admits/bemoans its tragedy at the same time...

im not going to do a line by line interpretation like others here...ill let you guys figure that out for yourselves...but that is the meaning of this song, trust me...

amazing song, though...and amazing writing...

So why did you flee? Don’t you know you can’t leave his control, only call all his wild works your own? So come back and we’ll take them all on. So come back to your life on the lam.

Beautiful song, best one on the Black Sheep Boy album if you'd ask me. Looks like it's the centerpiece of the album as well. Just very very nice.. so intense, so emotional :)

I agree. Probably my favourite on the album.

Not entirely certain on it's meaning. I've read that it's about child abduction, which seems to be a recurring theme with Black Sheep Boy. It could also be seen as a sort of love song, or maybe both.

I love the final few lines.

seems it's a little about murder too, and death. maybe someone grappling with the darker parts of their psyche. trying to be a responsible, honorable person rather than giving in to the ebb and flow of their emotions and ruin. much of it deals with impending fame and reknown- i.e. "millions of rolling eyes..." or maybe the narrator is afraid of judgement? "millions of ways to wear his hide tonight/ you've got yours and i've got mine" - maybe the personas he puts on, the way he has to fake his image instead of being naked, honest, and real. ultimately i think he makes the commitment, to do what he can to make himself the best person possible, for his lover as well as himself.

meh...

So why did you bawl from the spell of some old holy song, that some liar laughed as he composed - some liar I loved to control?

I never realized how bitter this line sounded until now- like the singer Will Sheff is condemning his very words.

The whole thing sounds like someone trying to outgrow and overcome their dark past.

And I just realized I wrote the previous post :P Yay me...

I think this son is about a "Black sheet boy" that sees a former lover and is trying his hardest to coax her into comming back to him. It also helps to explain that everyone can be a black sheep boy in their own way. The end gives me the chills also, every time.

my favorite song off Black sheep boy

This song has always reminded of Joyce Carol Oates's "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

It's a really good short story (about 12 pages, if I remember correctly) that can be read here if anyone's interested: http://www.usfca.edu/~southerr/wgoing2.html

She actually dedicated the story to Bob Dylan, because his song "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" inspired her to write it, and I think the story was also inspired by a kidnapping, which seems to be a prominent theme for the BSB album as a whole (with a few exceptions, perhaps), specifically in "So Come Back, I Am Waiting."