Darnielle in that same interview: "The song is actually about a specific person. I'm not going to say who, but it's a person of note."
I'd wager heavily that Darnielle was thinking of Elliott Smith. The strongest textual clue I see is "neuroleptics and electric shocks" (Smith subjected himself to a hell of a lot in trying to cure his depression and addiction), but I'm thinking more of the essay Darnielle wrote when Smith died: http://lastplanetojakarta.com/articles/elliott.html
Darnielle in that same interview: "The song is actually about a specific person. I'm not going to say who, but it's a person of note."
I'd wager heavily that Darnielle was thinking of Elliott Smith. The strongest textual clue I see is "neuroleptics and electric shocks" (Smith subjected himself to a hell of a lot in trying to cure his depression and addiction), but I'm thinking more of the essay Darnielle wrote when Smith died: http://lastplanetojakarta.com/articles/elliott.html
Smith: