I think this song is about a homeless Vietnam veteran living in the California hills. It's not told in chronological order. It starts with Saigon, Vietnam, and the imagery of the coke machines, being the same as in America.
Him and his brothers (probably other homeless veterans) are living in the wilderness because they found it difficult to rejoin society, but are comfortable living with each other in a survival situation like Vietnam since they have each other ("had enough of town and the street life" - they tried living as homeless in the streets of the city, but grew tired of it, particularly the crime, drugs, gangs, etc)
One of the homeless veterans falls asleep and gets set on fire by his own campfire because of a draught, but the California Highway Patrol can't get in to evacuate him.
The end of the song is him returning from Vietnam in his dress blues. After that, he settles down to a good life, but for some reason he can't leave the war behind. Also, something might have happened to his woman in the story (the words are "your mother" implying he's telling this story to his son or daughter, but I tend to think that it's actually what HE WOULD TELL his son or daughter, but he's not actually talking to them.)
At any rate, the way the song trails off is perfect and beautiful. This is an amazing song.
I think this song is about a homeless Vietnam veteran living in the California hills. It's not told in chronological order. It starts with Saigon, Vietnam, and the imagery of the coke machines, being the same as in America.
Him and his brothers (probably other homeless veterans) are living in the wilderness because they found it difficult to rejoin society, but are comfortable living with each other in a survival situation like Vietnam since they have each other ("had enough of town and the street life" - they tried living as homeless in the streets of the city, but grew tired of it, particularly the crime, drugs, gangs, etc)
One of the homeless veterans falls asleep and gets set on fire by his own campfire because of a draught, but the California Highway Patrol can't get in to evacuate him.
The end of the song is him returning from Vietnam in his dress blues. After that, he settles down to a good life, but for some reason he can't leave the war behind. Also, something might have happened to his woman in the story (the words are "your mother" implying he's telling this story to his son or daughter, but I tend to think that it's actually what HE WOULD TELL his son or daughter, but he's not actually talking to them.)
At any rate, the way the song trails off is perfect and beautiful. This is an amazing song.