Seventeen

I think this song is about a nostalgia to youth. Sweet and sour memories haunt you, you remember what you did with yourself and your friends but the fact that you were insecure and alone is always there in a corner of your mind. You think you were having fun but you are still afraid that someone might want to lock you up and you cannot trust anyone. Your mother's words mean the world to you and you are happy that you can be on your own when you are in your mind and that no one, not even god, would judge you for what you think. You imagine you're in a wanton carriage with no horses and you're grazing along and this is the most valuable memory for you: your dreams and what you imagination can create.

I think this song is about looking back at youth, where when you're younger everything seems like it doesn't matter, and you're living in the moment. Then, only a few years later it isn't as great is it is.

"Now I pull a one-ton carriage," I think this lyric means that they have many things weighing on their shoulders.

"I was having fun. We were all having fun." Note the 'was' and 'were'.

"Who is there to talk to That won't lock me up?" I think this part means that they are probably mentally ill, and if they speak about their feelings, etc. they will be called a "psychopath". If the person the song is about is mentally ill, the part "At least God doesn't judge me by the thoughts that aren't mine," could mean people who suffer with disorders like schizophrenia.

I really love this song. I think it's seriously beautiful. If it is about what I think it's about, it's painfully true.

I think its "one-ton carriage" and "my brain thinking faster than I can"

Great thoughts, Dick Smasher! I think he's really trying to communicate the nostalgia of youthful imagination, but certainly a bit ostentatious.

I think this song is about the freedom and excitement of youth. They are "roaming" the campground and "hunting for snakes", which seems analogous to Adam and Eve and their search for the snake that is trouble and adventure. Eventually that search ends and the speaker is laying alone in his room with his eyes shut. Time passes and eventually he wakes up to the reality and responsibility of adulthood. The majestic horses subside and he is left to pull a heavy one ton carriage. He wonders who there is to talk to that won't lock him up because adulthood feels constrictive and limiting to him, and he misses the frivolity of his youth.

I think the meaning of this song is not unlike Daniel Johnston's The Story of an Artist. He's clearly describing his creative imagination and his mother encourages his artistic inclinations. Horses grazing along are his peers who do as they're told, get good grades, play sports and follow the path of a "normal" teenager. As an introvert myself, the brain can think faster lyric to me describes what I sometimes face in regular conversations. Being a more reflective and creative thinker has its drawbacks and if I'm not confident about a subject I'll easily get locked up and not know what to say without thinking about it more in depth. This thought process is different and difficult for extroverts to understand. Being misinterpreted, different and on the more creative side is usually ostracizing in youth, especially as a teenager who is forced to try to make decisions about college, etc. that have long lasting and important implications, and I believe the carriage describes this struggle.

"But it\'s just me in my room,\nwith my eyes shut."\n\n"My brain can think faster than I can,\nbut not fast enough.\nWho is there to talk to\nthat won\'t lock me up?"\n\n"At least God doesn\'t judge me by the thoughts that aren\'t mine,\nthe snakes I couldn\'t find,\nI don\'t want to find."\n\nSounds like mental illness, and intrusive thoughts... Being afraid that you\'ve done wrong somehow. Perhaps when they\'re having fun, it\'s just a group of friends doing their best to cope with their sad thoughts, sad circumstances.

i think this song is absolutely wonderful; "Don't stop imagining. The day that you do is the day that you die.", although slightly pretentious, is absolutely fitting and a wonderful sentiment.