I consider this song in tandem with Ben's "Smoke." In that song he discusses his refusal to let his past affect him by describing a kind of metaphorical bonfire of all of the reminders of the past.
Here I think there is certainly a hint of regret about that idea of looking at things. All of our pasts affect every one of us, and whether you are satisfied with your past or not, things about people you knew become a part of you, and "come out from time to time."
I like the line immediately following that stipulates that "Probably nobody i know now would notice." As your life changes, and the people you surround yourself with do as well, there are aspects about you that other people just are never going to get. Like telling a joke that all of your old friends would get but that none of your new friends understand, there is a sense that we lose something when we distance ourselves from our pasts and the people that made us into who we are. By distancing yourself from your past, how can you not view the people in your life NOW as people who one day will equally forgotton...and fading...
Based on some of his other work, I'd bet that this is a kind of true story for Ben, but for the rest of us it serves as more of a cautionary tale.
I consider this song in tandem with Ben's "Smoke." In that song he discusses his refusal to let his past affect him by describing a kind of metaphorical bonfire of all of the reminders of the past. Here I think there is certainly a hint of regret about that idea of looking at things. All of our pasts affect every one of us, and whether you are satisfied with your past or not, things about people you knew become a part of you, and "come out from time to time." I like the line immediately following that stipulates that "Probably nobody i know now would notice." As your life changes, and the people you surround yourself with do as well, there are aspects about you that other people just are never going to get. Like telling a joke that all of your old friends would get but that none of your new friends understand, there is a sense that we lose something when we distance ourselves from our pasts and the people that made us into who we are. By distancing yourself from your past, how can you not view the people in your life NOW as people who one day will equally forgotton...and fading... Based on some of his other work, I'd bet that this is a kind of true story for Ben, but for the rest of us it serves as more of a cautionary tale.