Helicopter

I love this song... Definitely one of my favorites by PtL.

i appreciate him using the word jerk

It seems as though this song contains the last thoughts of a person about to jump from the top of a building.

"I want to fly this helicopter. And will it be enough?" - The speaker wants to "fly"/jump his "helicopter"(body) off the edge. Some dark humor in that he worries the impact of the jump won't be enough to kill him.

"Me and my wings are very fragile. And is that what you want?" - The speaker refers to his mind, heart, and soul who, like wings, have lifted him through previous bad times. I view "you" is the speaker talking to god and asking if He wants his soul, heart, and mind

"And I'm so scared that I might crash this bird. I feel like such a little girl. This time there is no net to catch me when I fall. Jesus, please protect me now."

• The speaker has second thoughts and regrets about whether to proceed with jumping.

"I do the thing that I don't want to. I am so very tired."

• A little insight into the world in which the speaker is running away from by killing himself

"My thoughts have wings and they don't obey me. What's a boy to do? "

• The speaker is reminisces to past instances of pain and anguish that he's tried to hard to avoid.

"And I'm so scared that I might crash this bird. I feel like such a little jerk. This time there is no net to catch me when I jump. Jesus, please forgive me now. "

• Again he expresses remorse for jumping

"Please have this burden. Please have this burden. Please have this burden. Please have this bird."

• The speaker refers to himself as a burden to everyone else (which is why he believes killing himself will solve his and everyone's problems) and he refers to himself as a bird while in the air. He can be talking to anyone, himself, friends, family, or God.

I think you're right. The song is even more great seeing it this way :)

I think this song is talking about a struggle with a burdening and recurring sin.

The helicopter is symbolic for the character's one chance at life, or perhaps a specific opportunity in his life. Unfortunately, he fears that he will undermine himself in his own personal weakness and fear.

"I do the thing that I don't want"

Is a paraphrase of Paul's own exasperated comment in Rom. 7:15 "For I dont know what I am doing. For I dont practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do."

"My thoughts have wings and they don't obey me."

He has struggled to control his thoughts but the harder he tries the less success he realizes.

"What's a boy to do?"

The struggle could be either with pornography, or perhaps Bazan is trying to convey a sense of the character's guilty sense of inadequacy and immaturity.

In exhaustion he turns to God for deliverance saying: Forgive me, God...please take this burden from me.

The encapsulating idea of the song is that our own efforts won't make us soar in life any more than flapping our arms up and down. In our broken acceptance of God's mercy we are delivered.

But hey...that's just my narrow-minded, Bible-beating, feel good fairytale paradigm.