The core idea of the song (to me; it's message typically varies a little depending on the listener) is how easily our lives can become a huge waste. A baby dies in childbirth. A teenager dies because of reckless driving. A 32-year-old discovers he had cancer and the plans he had for his life are now obsolete because "he's sick in the morning and he dies in the night." A 7-year-old just wants to play with his dad, but his dad is too busy with work. A 32-year-old is depressed because he has lived his whole life based on meaningless principles (like the idea that everyone should get married and have kids). The 23-year-old is the person I relate to the most. He (presumably) just got out of college ("got his life in his hands"), but he doesn't understand what the next step in his life is supposed to be ("looking all around, but he doesnt understand"). Next you find out that when the 23-year-old turns 32 he will be miserable, and this is a reference to the 32-year-old previously mentioned.
As you hear the song, it sounds like he is just singing about a bunch of different people whose lives have been wasted, but in the end it all comes together to show that it was the same person the whole time, and it is very easy to see how each stage of the persons life leads to the others and the many ways a person can waste their life.
The core idea of the song (to me; it's message typically varies a little depending on the listener) is how easily our lives can become a huge waste. A baby dies in childbirth. A teenager dies because of reckless driving. A 32-year-old discovers he had cancer and the plans he had for his life are now obsolete because "he's sick in the morning and he dies in the night." A 7-year-old just wants to play with his dad, but his dad is too busy with work. A 32-year-old is depressed because he has lived his whole life based on meaningless principles (like the idea that everyone should get married and have kids). The 23-year-old is the person I relate to the most. He (presumably) just got out of college ("got his life in his hands"), but he doesn't understand what the next step in his life is supposed to be ("looking all around, but he doesnt understand"). Next you find out that when the 23-year-old turns 32 he will be miserable, and this is a reference to the 32-year-old previously mentioned.
As you hear the song, it sounds like he is just singing about a bunch of different people whose lives have been wasted, but in the end it all comes together to show that it was the same person the whole time, and it is very easy to see how each stage of the persons life leads to the others and the many ways a person can waste their life.