Well it's called bastard, I kind of took this literally because there is definitely a father-son scenario going on in this song...
"The old bastard left his ties and his suit... And his opinion so you'd never have to choose."
Before reading this, I had a feeling it was about a son looking back on his father's life after he died. Then that comment from dtewfik supported it.
My guess is the father who died, actually was a "bastard" in the sense that he grew up with out a father around. To me, this would explain the insecurity complex that would lead to a Father acting like he knew everything to his son. Desperate to be a better father than his was, and feeling a pressure to have to answer every question to keep his son's respect.
He tells his son his opinion as though it is ultimate truth, all he needs to know, and he wont budge from it or consider other ideas because it could show that he might not know everything. That would be why he "gets smaller as the world gets big" and "the whiz man doesn't fit like the whiz kid did".
He may have had a great understanding for the world when he was younger, but once he had to take on the role of the all knowing dad he stopped learning - because he had to act like he knew everything. He tells his son this is just the way it goes.
Then he dies, a paradigm arrest... Let's just say stress from a change in life and realizing he didn't know shit got to him, perhaps a heart attack. Then I see the chorus as his son signing to him, frustrated, almost yelling- "why did have to act like you knew when you didn't know"- why were were you so stubborn and judgmental of yourself..
Well it's called bastard, I kind of took this literally because there is definitely a father-son scenario going on in this song...
"The old bastard left his ties and his suit... And his opinion so you'd never have to choose."
Before reading this, I had a feeling it was about a son looking back on his father's life after he died. Then that comment from dtewfik supported it.
My guess is the father who died, actually was a "bastard" in the sense that he grew up with out a father around. To me, this would explain the insecurity complex that would lead to a Father acting like he knew everything to his son. Desperate to be a better father than his was, and feeling a pressure to have to answer every question to keep his son's respect.
He tells his son his opinion as though it is ultimate truth, all he needs to know, and he wont budge from it or consider other ideas because it could show that he might not know everything. That would be why he "gets smaller as the world gets big" and "the whiz man doesn't fit like the whiz kid did".
He may have had a great understanding for the world when he was younger, but once he had to take on the role of the all knowing dad he stopped learning - because he had to act like he knew everything. He tells his son this is just the way it goes.
Then he dies, a paradigm arrest... Let's just say stress from a change in life and realizing he didn't know shit got to him, perhaps a heart attack. Then I see the chorus as his son signing to him, frustrated, almost yelling- "why did have to act like you knew when you didn't know"- why were were you so stubborn and judgmental of yourself..
just what i took.