I heard this song yesterday while driving to the beach, and it nearly brought me to tears given how far away I've been from my brothers for the past few years. Needless to say, I bought the album immediately afterwards. I've been listening to this song on repeat for the past 15 minutes and felt compelled to leave my interpretation on here.
Family dynamics and the differences of personalities, finding passion in life, and being separated from the ones you love all or having lost loved ones could all play into this song.
The opening verse nails home the fact that he is a dreamer more than a doer. He has constantly been finding himself being consumed by his own thoughts, but I feel something has happened to make him stop and question his ways when he says "Put your dreams away for now, I won't see them for sometime."
Given the content of the second verse, it leads me to think that they lost their mother. Her advice that she dispensed has a vague timeline. It could of been yesterday or it could have been years ago.
Assuming the loss of their mother, his world is quite shaken and he is caught in a dilemma: continue searching for his passion and looking to the "stars up above" or start living a responsible life as a "bricklayer." His mothers support is gone with her death, which can leave many feeling like they are walking a tightrope without a safety net.
So he seeks the advice of his "older" brother whom he respects and values. He perceives his brother to have superior wisdom (Oh my brother your wisdom is all that I need). Despite their differences in character, his brother being a doer and he being a dreamer, the problems that he has brought up is concerning to his brother. He reassures him (Oh my brother don't you worry about me) and asks his brother how work is going (how's that bricklaying coming?), how he is doing (how's that engine running), how he's holding up/how his dealing with the loss (is that bridge getting built?) and most importantly if his life is bringing him fulfillment (Are your hands getting filled). I believe that to him he perceives his brother to be so stable, and given the high esteem he holds him, finds that emulating his brothers life may not be a bad option. But deep down I think he knows that it doesn't matter the answers his brother gives, hence why those questions were never answered by his brother in this song. He knows that those stars up above will continually taunt him and that resignation to a life similar to his brothers would be a defamation to his mothers death and legacy for he would never be happy with that life, and without personal happiness he could never feel love from others and he would continually feel lost and "homeless."
He accepts that his mother is gone and that it is okay to move on (We can start moving forward). He resolves to continue his quest to find his passion, knowing that it will leave him stagnant and inside his own mind for some time. However, he also knows that once he does find his passion it will mean so much more having overcome such a tragedy and to have not relented his desires to a "responsible" life out of fear of failure.
I had a similar experience when I first heard this song, and I feel it tells a story about family that is very distinct for me. I feel that its the baby of the family with the over protective mother, being lost on the way, and looking to their older brother, who seems to be the "Type A" personality, for direction. In this though there's a disconnection between the siblings, possibly where the older resents the younger for being irresponsible and lost. The younger wants to forget these misgivings and move on.
I had a similar experience when I first heard this song, and I feel it tells a story about family that is very distinct for me. I feel that its the baby of the family with the over protective mother, being lost on the way, and looking to their older brother, who seems to be the "Type A" personality, for direction. In this though there's a disconnection between the siblings, possibly where the older resents the younger for being irresponsible and lost. The younger wants to forget these misgivings and move on.
I heard this song yesterday while driving to the beach, and it nearly brought me to tears given how far away I've been from my brothers for the past few years. Needless to say, I bought the album immediately afterwards. I've been listening to this song on repeat for the past 15 minutes and felt compelled to leave my interpretation on here.
Family dynamics and the differences of personalities, finding passion in life, and being separated from the ones you love all or having lost loved ones could all play into this song.
The opening verse nails home the fact that he is a dreamer more than a doer. He has constantly been finding himself being consumed by his own thoughts, but I feel something has happened to make him stop and question his ways when he says "Put your dreams away for now, I won't see them for sometime."
Given the content of the second verse, it leads me to think that they lost their mother. Her advice that she dispensed has a vague timeline. It could of been yesterday or it could have been years ago.
Assuming the loss of their mother, his world is quite shaken and he is caught in a dilemma: continue searching for his passion and looking to the "stars up above" or start living a responsible life as a "bricklayer." His mothers support is gone with her death, which can leave many feeling like they are walking a tightrope without a safety net.
So he seeks the advice of his "older" brother whom he respects and values. He perceives his brother to have superior wisdom (Oh my brother your wisdom is all that I need). Despite their differences in character, his brother being a doer and he being a dreamer, the problems that he has brought up is concerning to his brother. He reassures him (Oh my brother don't you worry about me) and asks his brother how work is going (how's that bricklaying coming?), how he is doing (how's that engine running), how he's holding up/how his dealing with the loss (is that bridge getting built?) and most importantly if his life is bringing him fulfillment (Are your hands getting filled). I believe that to him he perceives his brother to be so stable, and given the high esteem he holds him, finds that emulating his brothers life may not be a bad option. But deep down I think he knows that it doesn't matter the answers his brother gives, hence why those questions were never answered by his brother in this song. He knows that those stars up above will continually taunt him and that resignation to a life similar to his brothers would be a defamation to his mothers death and legacy for he would never be happy with that life, and without personal happiness he could never feel love from others and he would continually feel lost and "homeless."
He accepts that his mother is gone and that it is okay to move on (We can start moving forward). He resolves to continue his quest to find his passion, knowing that it will leave him stagnant and inside his own mind for some time. However, he also knows that once he does find his passion it will mean so much more having overcome such a tragedy and to have not relented his desires to a "responsible" life out of fear of failure.
I had a similar experience when I first heard this song, and I feel it tells a story about family that is very distinct for me. I feel that its the baby of the family with the over protective mother, being lost on the way, and looking to their older brother, who seems to be the "Type A" personality, for direction. In this though there's a disconnection between the siblings, possibly where the older resents the younger for being irresponsible and lost. The younger wants to forget these misgivings and move on.
I had a similar experience when I first heard this song, and I feel it tells a story about family that is very distinct for me. I feel that its the baby of the family with the over protective mother, being lost on the way, and looking to their older brother, who seems to be the "Type A" personality, for direction. In this though there's a disconnection between the siblings, possibly where the older resents the younger for being irresponsible and lost. The younger wants to forget these misgivings and move on.