This is certainly my favorite Bright Eyes song, possibly the best written song I've ever heard (because it is so ambiguous). The points ya'll have made make sense, but I don't think they're totally right. The hobo thing thing is entirely possible, but for me this song is clearly about wanting to overcome a bad stimulant (coke, crack, meth, whatever) addiction and finally start living the life you dreamed of. If anyone has ever nearly overdosed on any of those drugs, didn't die, came down, and then realized how fucking stupid you were, the first two paragraphs of this song would give you chills. To give my little thesis some validity... when you do way too much of an upper (even something tame sounding, like adderall) your heart starts beating totally out of tune, or the wild paranoia make you think it does, at least...you honestly feel like you are going to die, and it is terrifying. When this happens, sedatives (downers) are the only thing that can help calm you.
I guess I'll quit rambling now, but read the whole song and think about it. "Leveling Out" means coming down and staying down, for good. A real brakeman is the guy who switches the path of train tracks. This "brakeman" is a new, drug free path of life. With all the obvious referances to uppers (coke/crack) on Digital Ash (Gold Mine Gutted, Down in a Rabbit Hole), perhaps Conor has realized his need to "level out."
by the way, the Paris of the South is a nickname given to Beunos Aires, Argentina...perhaps him saying he wants to go somewhere new, get away from his drug dealers and old life or whatnot. If you think I'm nuts, it's fine...but that is what this song will always mean to me.
This is certainly my favorite Bright Eyes song, possibly the best written song I've ever heard (because it is so ambiguous). The points ya'll have made make sense, but I don't think they're totally right. The hobo thing thing is entirely possible, but for me this song is clearly about wanting to overcome a bad stimulant (coke, crack, meth, whatever) addiction and finally start living the life you dreamed of. If anyone has ever nearly overdosed on any of those drugs, didn't die, came down, and then realized how fucking stupid you were, the first two paragraphs of this song would give you chills. To give my little thesis some validity... when you do way too much of an upper (even something tame sounding, like adderall) your heart starts beating totally out of tune, or the wild paranoia make you think it does, at least...you honestly feel like you are going to die, and it is terrifying. When this happens, sedatives (downers) are the only thing that can help calm you. I guess I'll quit rambling now, but read the whole song and think about it. "Leveling Out" means coming down and staying down, for good. A real brakeman is the guy who switches the path of train tracks. This "brakeman" is a new, drug free path of life. With all the obvious referances to uppers (coke/crack) on Digital Ash (Gold Mine Gutted, Down in a Rabbit Hole), perhaps Conor has realized his need to "level out."
by the way, the Paris of the South is a nickname given to Beunos Aires, Argentina...perhaps him saying he wants to go somewhere new, get away from his drug dealers and old life or whatnot. If you think I'm nuts, it's fine...but that is what this song will always mean to me.
(: