My take on this song is pretty much what narsil said, but in a bit of a different context. It's (the songs, that is) kind of a half-apologetic attempt to explain himself and his words/actions to someone (maybe a girl, maybe a friend or family member, who knows).
"I heard what I said to you / and it was so out of sync / with the way I wanted to / make myself out to seem" (and the corresponding second verse) : 'Hey, I know I said these things, and I know how it must have sounded to you, but what you got from it was not the same thing I was trying to convey to you.' Trying to express oneself, trying to relate to someone so that they really understand you and where you're coming from is the hardest thing in the world.
"I don't like this air / but that doesn't mean I'll stop breathing it" : Here he's drawing a very simple parallel - 'I don't like being misunderstood, I don't like how tough it is to interact with people if they don't have as much knowledge of and access to all the things I think and feel as I do. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop living with people, it doesn't mean I'm going to become a hermit and avoid social contact.'
"Who doesn't think they're at / the center of the universe and being it?" : We all experience life/the universe/everything only through ourselves. There's no way around this fact - I see with my own eyes, hear with my own ears, speak with my own mouth, and think with my own mind. In this sense, we are, by nature, alone.
"Don't look now / just keep watching your t.v. / hating what's to see (what you see?) / waiting for someone / to say something that's right" : Again, don't give up. Keep struggling along, because even though the majority of your experiences with people may not be positive or you may not be truly understood by (or truly understand) everyone you meet, there's always that chance that you'll find someone who says something that you would say, someone who thinks like you do, a kindred spirit. And maybe they won't agree with you on everything, but to connect with someone on even a small level, even if only some of the time, is what's really important.
To me, it's about struggling with my own fear that nothing outside myself is real (how can you ever know?) and the desire that creates within me to find someone who can truly know me.
My take on this song is pretty much what narsil said, but in a bit of a different context. It's (the songs, that is) kind of a half-apologetic attempt to explain himself and his words/actions to someone (maybe a girl, maybe a friend or family member, who knows).
"I heard what I said to you / and it was so out of sync / with the way I wanted to / make myself out to seem" (and the corresponding second verse) : 'Hey, I know I said these things, and I know how it must have sounded to you, but what you got from it was not the same thing I was trying to convey to you.' Trying to express oneself, trying to relate to someone so that they really understand you and where you're coming from is the hardest thing in the world.
"I don't like this air / but that doesn't mean I'll stop breathing it" : Here he's drawing a very simple parallel - 'I don't like being misunderstood, I don't like how tough it is to interact with people if they don't have as much knowledge of and access to all the things I think and feel as I do. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop living with people, it doesn't mean I'm going to become a hermit and avoid social contact.'
"Who doesn't think they're at / the center of the universe and being it?" : We all experience life/the universe/everything only through ourselves. There's no way around this fact - I see with my own eyes, hear with my own ears, speak with my own mouth, and think with my own mind. In this sense, we are, by nature, alone.
"Don't look now / just keep watching your t.v. / hating what's to see (what you see?) / waiting for someone / to say something that's right" : Again, don't give up. Keep struggling along, because even though the majority of your experiences with people may not be positive or you may not be truly understood by (or truly understand) everyone you meet, there's always that chance that you'll find someone who says something that you would say, someone who thinks like you do, a kindred spirit. And maybe they won't agree with you on everything, but to connect with someone on even a small level, even if only some of the time, is what's really important.
To me, it's about struggling with my own fear that nothing outside myself is real (how can you ever know?) and the desire that creates within me to find someone who can truly know me.