I think when the person is telling the story in the early verse, "you" is the person himself. He is the brother/the poor boy; the sister is his sister. For the first half of the song, he's telling his story in second-person. In the early verses, he's describing his life at that time. Perhaps he's getting in to some kind of trouble/is headed down a bad path/is losing himself, etc. He's ignoring his family.
His sister comes to him worried/upset, says, "I know something's wrong with you, etc." & then reminds him that she loves and cares about him, etc.
While he continues living the same life, he starts thinking about his family. He's listened/he's waking up. HE is drowning in a city filled with blue blood, and he is remembering his family and sister and they would say, "Can't you see your blood is thicker? Etc." Those two verses are like the family's plea to him: Leave this life. And he's starting to realize everything.
In the "Burned out" verse, he's changing--he's realized "my answers are all wrong." He's ready to leave, he's himself again, he's ready for help, etc. It is in this verse that he stops referring to himself as "you" and everything becomes "I" again.
Now that he's himself again or he's ready for help, he starts crying out to his family ("Show me where I need to run to").
Perhaps the "but the truth is that you're gone" represents the fact that he is having difficulties still making the decision. He WANTS to leave, he WANTS to go back to the family, but he just doesn't know how to stop making bad decisions or it's too difficult. Or maybe his family is receiving him differently, or he knows their relationship will be different. But, he wants everything back.
He reflects again on what his sister said to him: Don't forget me. And, in the next verse, he follows his sister's words. He says, "I won't forget you. I KNOW we came from a good home. I'll never forget you." It's like his apology to his sister. And he ends saying "Sister, take me away with you" as if to say, "Sister, come save me. Come save me from this mess I'm in."
I read this as a good companion song to "Actions are Actions," which I think describes the family's perspective coping with the person in trouble (the boy in this song).
I had a different take on the song…
I think when the person is telling the story in the early verse, "you" is the person himself. He is the brother/the poor boy; the sister is his sister. For the first half of the song, he's telling his story in second-person. In the early verses, he's describing his life at that time. Perhaps he's getting in to some kind of trouble/is headed down a bad path/is losing himself, etc. He's ignoring his family.
His sister comes to him worried/upset, says, "I know something's wrong with you, etc." & then reminds him that she loves and cares about him, etc.
While he continues living the same life, he starts thinking about his family. He's listened/he's waking up. HE is drowning in a city filled with blue blood, and he is remembering his family and sister and they would say, "Can't you see your blood is thicker? Etc." Those two verses are like the family's plea to him: Leave this life. And he's starting to realize everything.
In the "Burned out" verse, he's changing--he's realized "my answers are all wrong." He's ready to leave, he's himself again, he's ready for help, etc. It is in this verse that he stops referring to himself as "you" and everything becomes "I" again.
Now that he's himself again or he's ready for help, he starts crying out to his family ("Show me where I need to run to").
Perhaps the "but the truth is that you're gone" represents the fact that he is having difficulties still making the decision. He WANTS to leave, he WANTS to go back to the family, but he just doesn't know how to stop making bad decisions or it's too difficult. Or maybe his family is receiving him differently, or he knows their relationship will be different. But, he wants everything back.
He reflects again on what his sister said to him: Don't forget me. And, in the next verse, he follows his sister's words. He says, "I won't forget you. I KNOW we came from a good home. I'll never forget you." It's like his apology to his sister. And he ends saying "Sister, take me away with you" as if to say, "Sister, come save me. Come save me from this mess I'm in."
I read this as a good companion song to "Actions are Actions," which I think describes the family's perspective coping with the person in trouble (the boy in this song).