Not to dampen what others gather from this song. But this is what I believe the song means:
I believe that this song is about a ghost looking back on his suicide. He says how his "brave young life
Was forever changed
I a misty cloud of pink vapor" This is where the person was killed. The misty cloud of pink vapor is his blood as the bullet passes through.
His "Darling" in the song is not a woman. It is his pistol. When he is telling it to give him a kiss, he is asking it to put him out of his misery, because he is the 'nothing man.'
How everyone goes about their business during the song proves to him that he was the nothing man and his death meant nothing to anyone.
When he says 'you can call me Joe' I believe he is just shortening the name 'John Doe' without making it blatantly obvious. John Doe is a name given to people that we don't know the names of, which fits perfect here since he is the 'nothing man' and has no name. He obviously is not proud of something he did, due to him saying 'you want courage, I'll show you courage you can understand' which I believe is him committing suicide.
The last part is sad because it is where he succeeds in killing himself, the last part 'I am the Nothing Man' being repeated to add to the effect that his life is fading out.
I also don't believe that this was meant for 9/11, however you could look at it as a 9/11 member that tried to save someone, couldn't gather the courage to do what his colleagues were doing, and therefor committed suicide because he couldn't live with himself afterwards.
Not to dampen what others gather from this song. But this is what I believe the song means:
I believe that this song is about a ghost looking back on his suicide. He says how his "brave young life Was forever changed I a misty cloud of pink vapor" This is where the person was killed. The misty cloud of pink vapor is his blood as the bullet passes through. His "Darling" in the song is not a woman. It is his pistol. When he is telling it to give him a kiss, he is asking it to put him out of his misery, because he is the 'nothing man.' How everyone goes about their business during the song proves to him that he was the nothing man and his death meant nothing to anyone. When he says 'you can call me Joe' I believe he is just shortening the name 'John Doe' without making it blatantly obvious. John Doe is a name given to people that we don't know the names of, which fits perfect here since he is the 'nothing man' and has no name. He obviously is not proud of something he did, due to him saying 'you want courage, I'll show you courage you can understand' which I believe is him committing suicide.
The last part is sad because it is where he succeeds in killing himself, the last part 'I am the Nothing Man' being repeated to add to the effect that his life is fading out.
I also don't believe that this was meant for 9/11, however you could look at it as a 9/11 member that tried to save someone, couldn't gather the courage to do what his colleagues were doing, and therefor committed suicide because he couldn't live with himself afterwards.