from what i understand, ian wrote this about a mentally impaired boy who lived down the street from him when he was growing up. the boy was never allowed to leave his family's yard. many many years later, ian retuned to the neighborhood to find that the boy was now a man, and was still confined to his family's yard. ian was struck by the fact that this man's entire world was confined just to the yard--hence the song.
from what i understand, ian wrote this about a mentally impaired boy who lived down the street from him when he was growing up. the boy was never allowed to leave his family's yard. many many years later, ian retuned to the neighborhood to find that the boy was now a man, and was still confined to his family's yard. ian was struck by the fact that this man's entire world was confined just to the yard--hence the song.