There have been a lot of good posts. I'm going to offer my interpretation, which is kind of a mix of different opinions.
The basic gimmick of the song involves John is taking some very famous leftist cliches and then subverting them to express the narrator's state of mind as regards his personal life. Someone already noted the "Solidarity Forever" lyric - a famous union anthem that John has sung live at some concerts - but there is an allusion to the Communist Manifesto, namely, "A spector's haunting Albert's Street." In the Communist Manifesto, Marx declares that a spector (the spector of Communism) is haunting Europe and all have conspired against it. Also, the expression "to the barricades" can be used to conjure up images of revolution. Indeed, that is the name of a biography of Emma Goldman, an American anarchist that John looks up to, judging by the liner notes of his last Propagandhi album, Less Talk, More Rock.
Okay so that's the background. Having this in mind, John K's explanation makes total sense. Basically, there's this political activist who, for whatever reason, grows tired of standing out in the rain, handing out pamphlets to people who don't care. This, in turn, reminds him of an unfortunate relationship wherein he sees his partner in "all that I could never overcome". So he snaps, and can no longer (or has no desire to) distinguish between the cause he is trumpeting and the details of his personal life - a very important theme in getting the Weakerthans, who are actually a very political group.
Well, that's my interpretation. If it helps someone, I'm glad. If not, go listen to Propagandhi. It has the same message, but a lot louder and not less subtle.
There have been a lot of good posts. I'm going to offer my interpretation, which is kind of a mix of different opinions.
The basic gimmick of the song involves John is taking some very famous leftist cliches and then subverting them to express the narrator's state of mind as regards his personal life. Someone already noted the "Solidarity Forever" lyric - a famous union anthem that John has sung live at some concerts - but there is an allusion to the Communist Manifesto, namely, "A spector's haunting Albert's Street." In the Communist Manifesto, Marx declares that a spector (the spector of Communism) is haunting Europe and all have conspired against it. Also, the expression "to the barricades" can be used to conjure up images of revolution. Indeed, that is the name of a biography of Emma Goldman, an American anarchist that John looks up to, judging by the liner notes of his last Propagandhi album, Less Talk, More Rock.
Okay so that's the background. Having this in mind, John K's explanation makes total sense. Basically, there's this political activist who, for whatever reason, grows tired of standing out in the rain, handing out pamphlets to people who don't care. This, in turn, reminds him of an unfortunate relationship wherein he sees his partner in "all that I could never overcome". So he snaps, and can no longer (or has no desire to) distinguish between the cause he is trumpeting and the details of his personal life - a very important theme in getting the Weakerthans, who are actually a very political group.
Well, that's my interpretation. If it helps someone, I'm glad. If not, go listen to Propagandhi. It has the same message, but a lot louder and not less subtle.