Just read an interview with Darnielle where he confirmed this song is a reaction to David Foster Wallace's suicide. In Infinite Jest, Wallace compared a depressed person committing suicide to a person jumping out the window of a burning building, so maybe that's the source of the smoke alarms line.
Just read an interview with Darnielle where he confirmed this song is a reaction to David Foster Wallace's suicide. In Infinite Jest, Wallace compared a depressed person committing suicide to a person jumping out the window of a burning building, so maybe that's the source of the smoke alarms line.