Sometimes people have their parents' faults follow them around. Say someones father was some sort of criminal, or the mother was a drunk: at times, the children of these people are automatically grouped in with the people who have those problems. "Oh, well, Timmy's dad was into hard drugs you know, it would be wise to stay away from him Mary, you never know." things like that happen all to often. Of course, this is just my interpretation. But if you look at the lyrics, you can kind of see where I am coming from:
"I closed my eyes and saw my father's sins
They covered me like a second skin
I peeled them off, and sure I bled a bit
But now I'm free to sink my own damn ship
I cut my branch down from my family tree
To start a fire in the living room
Now the house is just ash, this time it's sink or swim"
So basically he is saying that he's broken the mold that his family has made for him. That 'second skin' covered him- it followed him everywhere. He's 'cut a branch off from his family tree' and burned it down (it sort of sounds like he let go of his family...?) but it's time to sink or swim, he is on his own and is fending for himself.
Sometimes people have their parents' faults follow them around. Say someones father was some sort of criminal, or the mother was a drunk: at times, the children of these people are automatically grouped in with the people who have those problems. "Oh, well, Timmy's dad was into hard drugs you know, it would be wise to stay away from him Mary, you never know." things like that happen all to often. Of course, this is just my interpretation. But if you look at the lyrics, you can kind of see where I am coming from: "I closed my eyes and saw my father's sins They covered me like a second skin I peeled them off, and sure I bled a bit But now I'm free to sink my own damn ship I cut my branch down from my family tree To start a fire in the living room Now the house is just ash, this time it's sink or swim"
So basically he is saying that he's broken the mold that his family has made for him. That 'second skin' covered him- it followed him everywhere. He's 'cut a branch off from his family tree' and burned it down (it sort of sounds like he let go of his family...?) but it's time to sink or swim, he is on his own and is fending for himself.