While the gay issue making it more difficult to break into the mainstream is a likely theme here... there may be an added more personal dimension to that. I've had a feeling that the "you" this song is sung to... "the innocent culprit" he looked back on.. could be his father. If you check out YouTube clips of Loudon Wainwright III from the 70's and 80's, he looks so much like Rufus, only cuter, with a more mainstream voice, and wrote songs with more widespread appeal. He even was on episodes of MASH as the folksinging soldier.
While the gay issue making it more difficult to break into the mainstream is a likely theme here... there may be an added more personal dimension to that. I've had a feeling that the "you" this song is sung to... "the innocent culprit" he looked back on.. could be his father. If you check out YouTube clips of Loudon Wainwright III from the 70's and 80's, he looks so much like Rufus, only cuter, with a more mainstream voice, and wrote songs with more widespread appeal. He even was on episodes of MASH as the folksinging soldier.