Y'know, while I agree that the song is about the idea of "sobering up", or "making good" with all the people you've hurt by damaging your own life so /badly/...
...I think there's a tone of irony to the entire song. I don't think the song's sentiment is so simple as "this is what I'm going to do". It's more like "this is what I would do... if only I knew how".
I'd back my claim up with the surreal images John has written into the song. Gypsy children dancing wildly, bodies rising like salmon... it's utterly vivid, but you've gotta admit it's like a dream sequence.
The other line I'd point to is "when I wave my magic wand".
When you're stuck so deep in personal issues that seem nearly impossible to resolve (and drug addictions would definitely fit this category)... there's a sense of helplessness. Of wanting everything to "just go away, magically". Hence the mention of a magic wand.
For these reasons, I find the song hugely powerful. Because the narrator is hoping against hope that he'll get out of this spot... and is so fiercely desperate. Ironically, the song always puts me in a determined, uplifted mood. Catharthis, maybe?
Y'know, while I agree that the song is about the idea of "sobering up", or "making good" with all the people you've hurt by damaging your own life so /badly/...
...I think there's a tone of irony to the entire song. I don't think the song's sentiment is so simple as "this is what I'm going to do". It's more like "this is what I would do... if only I knew how".
I'd back my claim up with the surreal images John has written into the song. Gypsy children dancing wildly, bodies rising like salmon... it's utterly vivid, but you've gotta admit it's like a dream sequence.
The other line I'd point to is "when I wave my magic wand". When you're stuck so deep in personal issues that seem nearly impossible to resolve (and drug addictions would definitely fit this category)... there's a sense of helplessness. Of wanting everything to "just go away, magically". Hence the mention of a magic wand.
For these reasons, I find the song hugely powerful. Because the narrator is hoping against hope that he'll get out of this spot... and is so fiercely desperate. Ironically, the song always puts me in a determined, uplifted mood. Catharthis, maybe?