I Made a Resolution

I think this song is about trying to develop a sense of integrity through not succumbing to self-pity, false pretenses, or self-destructive behavior. On one hand, the singer seems to accept his difficult background and its indelible influence on his life (i.e., "these hills will never leave me"). However, on the other hand, he also aspires to confront the impetus to follow in his father's footsteps to his own demise. The personified voice of the father: "son my hands are strong," suggests that the signer is aware of the challenge to break an intergenerational cycle that seems to leading him...

I think this song is about trying to develop a sense of integrity through not succumbing to self-pity, false pretenses, or self-destructive behavior. On one hand, the singer seems to accept his difficult background and its indelible influence on his life (i.e., "these hills will never leave me"). However, on the other hand, he also aspires to confront the impetus to follow in his father's footsteps to his own demise. The personified voice of the father: "son my hands are strong," suggests that the signer is aware of the challenge to break an intergenerational cycle that seems to leading him toward antisocial or self-destructive behavior. The line "I hope you have the strength to shake us free," seems to imply that the singer has a somewhat mixed view of his the father--not necessarily fully bad or harmful. More importantly, the singer can liberate himself (and his father's spirit by proxy) through escaping the negative influences impinging on his life. Thus, this paints the father as a victim to his circumstances and the singer as an individual who actively eschews the victim role (i.e., no more sad songs) through self-determination (i.e., the resolution). The resolution then protects the singer by reminding him to cope with adversity and not indulge too deeply in self-loathing, pity, or self-destruction. Will he succeed in theses pursuits? It is too early to tell by my judgement . . .