I picked my screen name for this song. I fucking love it. It would totally be my favorite RA song, if I could choose one :D I also agree that the best line is "When you're dreamin' of America your father's ghost breaks the door with all his chains just rattlin' around" - one of the best RA lines ever.
Anyway I think this song is about a girl who he knows needs him ("cause if it were easy you wouldn't need me") but who left him or couldn't be with him and is with somebody else, but he always wonders if she'd have stuck around had he told her something he couldn't tell her. And he's kind of jealous of whoever she's with. And he's fascinated with her personality which is somehow captured in the fact that when she's dreaming of America her father's ghost breaks the door with all his chains just rattlin' around, which to me sort of captures an American girl, somewhat of a dreamer, who loves her parents and feels attached to where she came from but also has issues.
i really enjoyed your interpretation of this. i didn't think of it that way at all until reading this and listening to it once again. it really is quite a powerful piece of music. it is ryan at his best. simple, gritty voice with a guitar. i see a very strong woman (maybe too guarded for him) with problems in this as well, and the protagonist let her go. the imagery in the song is so captivating. i feel like i can relate to the song (or at least this interpretation). i'm a daddy's girl and a dreamer.
i really enjoyed your interpretation of this. i didn't think of it that way at all until reading this and listening to it once again. it really is quite a powerful piece of music. it is ryan at his best. simple, gritty voice with a guitar. i see a very strong woman (maybe too guarded for him) with problems in this as well, and the protagonist let her go. the imagery in the song is so captivating. i feel like i can relate to the song (or at least this interpretation). i'm a daddy's girl and a dreamer.
maybe the...
maybe the chains are also symbolic to the protagonist as not only are they the "chains" of the woman's family but also the "chains" of his burden for letting her go and not being with her any longer.
I picked my screen name for this song. I fucking love it. It would totally be my favorite RA song, if I could choose one :D I also agree that the best line is "When you're dreamin' of America your father's ghost breaks the door with all his chains just rattlin' around" - one of the best RA lines ever.
Anyway I think this song is about a girl who he knows needs him ("cause if it were easy you wouldn't need me") but who left him or couldn't be with him and is with somebody else, but he always wonders if she'd have stuck around had he told her something he couldn't tell her. And he's kind of jealous of whoever she's with. And he's fascinated with her personality which is somehow captured in the fact that when she's dreaming of America her father's ghost breaks the door with all his chains just rattlin' around, which to me sort of captures an American girl, somewhat of a dreamer, who loves her parents and feels attached to where she came from but also has issues.
That's what I see in it anyway.
i really enjoyed your interpretation of this. i didn't think of it that way at all until reading this and listening to it once again. it really is quite a powerful piece of music. it is ryan at his best. simple, gritty voice with a guitar. i see a very strong woman (maybe too guarded for him) with problems in this as well, and the protagonist let her go. the imagery in the song is so captivating. i feel like i can relate to the song (or at least this interpretation). i'm a daddy's girl and a dreamer.
i really enjoyed your interpretation of this. i didn't think of it that way at all until reading this and listening to it once again. it really is quite a powerful piece of music. it is ryan at his best. simple, gritty voice with a guitar. i see a very strong woman (maybe too guarded for him) with problems in this as well, and the protagonist let her go. the imagery in the song is so captivating. i feel like i can relate to the song (or at least this interpretation). i'm a daddy's girl and a dreamer.
maybe the...
maybe the chains are also symbolic to the protagonist as not only are they the "chains" of the woman's family but also the "chains" of his burden for letting her go and not being with her any longer.