I always thought this song might be about a soldier who had just returned from a war in a "poor place"--some third world country where it's very hot and wartorn. The soldier is suffering from some kind of post-traumatic stress disorder. Even though he tries to re-embrace life in America, like pop-culture and family ("the singer you love so much") and people are trying to help him get through it, like the person who ties one of those yellow ribbons around a tree in his backyard, he still feels really isolated and alone. That's where what mark36 said about the radio comes in.
I always thought this song might be about a soldier who had just returned from a war in a "poor place"--some third world country where it's very hot and wartorn. The soldier is suffering from some kind of post-traumatic stress disorder. Even though he tries to re-embrace life in America, like pop-culture and family ("the singer you love so much") and people are trying to help him get through it, like the person who ties one of those yellow ribbons around a tree in his backyard, he still feels really isolated and alone. That's where what mark36 said about the radio comes in.