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The News About William Lyrics
4 in the morning the sidewalk's asleep
Dogs on the porch,
Spiders on the leaf
Shipwrecked by night
Sailing through days
Nobody noticed the slipping away
Connecting the dots with thorns in his side
Boarded up the Windows with pain and with pride
The music box broken that once was his soul
It's sad little song spinning out of control
Then came the storm that washed the roads out
Closed both his eyes and pointed straight south
Second line drums marched into the sea
While the clouds overhead cried "mutiny"
They parted for Cathy and her bitter news
As her words fail and the sky grew dim
Recalled how close to that exit I've been
Ours not to reply
Ours not to reason why
The news about William
The lifeline retreats
Desire for release
The thorns in his side
Dogs on the porch,
Spiders on the leaf
Shipwrecked by night
Sailing through days
Nobody noticed the slipping away
Boarded up the Windows with pain and with pride
The music box broken that once was his soul
It's sad little song spinning out of control
Closed both his eyes and pointed straight south
Second line drums marched into the sea
While the clouds overhead cried "mutiny"
As her words fail and the sky grew dim
Recalled how close to that exit I've been
Ours not to reason why
The news about William
The lifeline retreats
Desire for release
The thorns in his side
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This could be about a suicide of someone named William. The first three verses describe the process of becoming disconnected from the world and convey general feelings of sadness and isolation. In the fourth verse, the singer observes Cathy, evidently someone close to William (probably spouse or mother), as she receives the news and "recall[s] how close to that exit I've been". William's motivations are hinted at in the last lines: "The lifeline retreats / The desire for release / The thorns in his side."
Definitely about suicide. "Nobody noticed the slipping away", "Sad little song spinning out of control", "Closed both his eyes and pointed straight south", and the entire last verse. More than once have I, too, been "close to that exit".
I always figured that it was about a friend who got into heroin and died.
My first response to these lyrics is suicide. I mean, that the song is about suicide. The song does make me sad, but not to that extent...
I listened to a podcast a while ago in which Joey Burns talked about an old childhood friend, Bill Wilson, who had taken his own life. A high school friend, Cathy, told Joey about that. Joey said he wanted to write something about it, something that wasn't too specific but showes, what leads up to that.