Lyric discussion by vicioussatsuma 

Cover art for Deuteronomy 2:10 lyrics by Mountain Goats, The

I agree, it's largely figurative, so feel what you will when you hear it. For me, it's mostly about loneliness and not feeling understood - feeling distant to people. Some of the lyrics definitely seem to refer to his role as a musician though.

I just listened to it again and there's obvious points about mortality as well.