The Luckiest Man

Could be a reference to Lou Gehrig? Google luckiest man you'll see what I mean.

Lou Gehrig's Disease or ALS has no known cause = mysterious forces.

Up against too many horses = Eventually most people with ALS are not able to stand or walk, get in or out of bed on their own, use their hands and arms, or communicate. In later stages of the disease, individuals have difficulty breathing as the muscles of the respiratory system weaken.

Running is useless, and fighting is foolish = Although respiratory support can ease problems with breathing and prolong survival, it does not affect the progression of ALS. Most people with ALS die from respiratory failure, usually within three to five years from the onset of symptoms.

Your not gonna win = There is no cure for ALS.

This song really spoke to me when I was going through a difficult time in my life ... ultimately, things were just tough with work and with a few friendships. Here's what it said to me:

My whole saturday and sunday too I was thinking about ways not to lose

I'm caught in a loop of worry about a problem... and I'm trying to find a way out of the problem where I don't lose something I have. At a deeper level, you're not trying to WIN ... you're just trying NOT TO LOSE. So you're playing defense and that sucks. Fun problems are trying to get promoted or making new friends. Bad problems are trying not to lose things (jobs, friends, houses lol)

I lay down my weapons is what I've done Too late to hide, feet too soft to run

I stepped into a fight I'm going to lose ... so I'm yielding. I can't get out of the way or outrun the fight, so I'm going to have to accept the consequences.

But people say I'm the luckiest man Yeah they say Running is useless and fighting is foolish You're not gonna win but still you're the luckiest man you're up against too many horses and mysterious forces What you don't know is you are the luckiest man You're the luckiest man

So ... there's all kinds of bullshit going on around you ... and you're going to lose this fight, but it doesn't matter because, at the end of the day, you're above the bullshit. All the people fighting superficial battles are welcome to continue fighting and winning those battles, because they don't matter. You're the luckiest man because you recognize that the battle isn't worth winning.

Running is useless You can't get out of the way now, so just suck it up

and fighting is foolish It's a worthless battle

you're up against too many horses and mysterious forces You can't win and you don't even understand the game

I don't talk to the devil when he calls my name But sometimes when I'm losing it all seems the same

I took this to mean addiction ... it fit me pretty well. So when the addiction calls (the devil), you ignore him, but you wonder why you're bothering because you feel like shit anyway. You've given up the addiction and you still feel like garbage.

And when I fall I'm back up again Just to slip on the same mistakes and slide right back in

It's a cycle; you lose the addiction battle, then you win for a while, then you slip again.

Try to keep my faith and keep my mind Hate to lose either one when the whip cracks behind And I can't help but mourning just a little each night People say everything is gonna be alright

It's hard to keep a positive outlook when you're getting attacked, but you keep trying... and it's okay to be sad a little

thank you for this comment, great song even without knowing this, but this makes it even better. Life is full of challenges and our outlook/mind is our own best friend ....or enemy through it all

I think this song is about how sometimes we get so caught up in our own battles that we fail to realize how much we have going great in our life. Our toughest battle is ourselves. We can't run or fight that. We just need to step back and realize that and then we will see how lucky we are....

I think this is about someone who battles depression. People say he's the luckiest man, maybe because they are either encouraging him or to them, his life seems quite nice. But to himself he's constantly thinking of ways not to lose. He doubts himself a lot. He is almost jovial about how people says he's the luckiest man. If you, as most people have, gone through depression you know no one quite "gets it" and it can even be laughable at times.

I love the thoughts on the meaning of the song. My own opinion is that it is about addiction. I think that that first verse is talking about surrendering to addiction. In the as/na big books the first steps are admitting to being powerless, accepting that I am an addict, and surrending to it. It makes sense for the chorus. You cant fight addiction and beat it, or ever beat it, but to speak in a white knuckle sort of way. Just a thought. Thanks, friends for letting me share.

That's the beautiful thing about lyrics; they mean whatever they mean to you and that can be something different to what was originally written. All the explanations above sound good and, for me, well it's just about being the luckiest man. I mean, I've not had a great deal of luck in life, but in love? - 40 years of being the luckiest man.

To me, it's an unspoken love song. I think his significant other is very beautiful, and although things don't go well for him, people still tell him he's the luckiest man because they envy him for being with her.