There was an article in Time that was published about the new album in which Meloy explains this and a few of the other songs on the album. He said that this song was inspired by the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
From the "Time" article:
"They're kids," he says. "If you're a parent of one of these people, you just want to grab them by the scruff of their neck and yank them out of it. When they're that far out of arm's reach that must be devastating."
--Colin Meloy
If you re-read the lyrics, this definitely makes sense.
There was an article in Time that was published about the new album in which Meloy explains this and a few of the other songs on the album. He said that this song was inspired by the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
From the "Time" article:
"They're kids," he says. "If you're a parent of one of these people, you just want to grab them by the scruff of their neck and yank them out of it. When they're that far out of arm's reach that must be devastating." --Colin Meloy
If you re-read the lyrics, this definitely makes sense.