since nobody seemed to hit the nail on the head, this song is more than just anti-war...jesse's brother is in the army and went to iraq and this is his reaction to what is going on. the first verse shows how he had a good life at home but left to defend his country, then the second is about the worry from the family and jesse and hearing of all the people who have died (and not getting any good news, damn liberal media!) plus his parents are remembering vietnam and what they saw of the people who came home. and the chorus is trying to tell his brother that he'd rather they run from the war (wake up and come out to the car) than have to worry about him over there (in the east) where tensions are building (swell) but still he supports them and knows they'll win (and it's howlin offshore) but he'd rather they just be kings of their town then have him over there
since nobody seemed to hit the nail on the head, this song is more than just anti-war...jesse's brother is in the army and went to iraq and this is his reaction to what is going on. the first verse shows how he had a good life at home but left to defend his country, then the second is about the worry from the family and jesse and hearing of all the people who have died (and not getting any good news, damn liberal media!) plus his parents are remembering vietnam and what they saw of the people who came home. and the chorus is trying to tell his brother that he'd rather they run from the war (wake up and come out to the car) than have to worry about him over there (in the east) where tensions are building (swell) but still he supports them and knows they'll win (and it's howlin offshore) but he'd rather they just be kings of their town then have him over there