A lot of people want to say this is about sexual abuse, and i think that the part about the woman down the street at age 16 is representative of that, but i believe the song to be about something else.
Howard is obviously a boy growing up with an internal struggle of homosexual feelings, furthered by his same sex sexual experiences at a young age. These feelings of doubt and insecurity eventually make him into a problem child, leading him into a world of drug abuse. His mother also seems to absent, at least emotionally. His personal problems eventually get him expelled from school and he heads farther into his downward spiral.
This is where my interpretation of the song varies from others. At age 19, he returns to a school and approaches a boy to get "closure." Many have surmised he is about to give a child drugs or abuse the child in some fashion. i think that this boy is Howard's first sexual partner, still a "boy" because he is still in school. Howard approaches him, and hopefully, is able to get the kind of emotional closure he needs from the boy.
A lot of people want to say this is about sexual abuse, and i think that the part about the woman down the street at age 16 is representative of that, but i believe the song to be about something else.
Howard is obviously a boy growing up with an internal struggle of homosexual feelings, furthered by his same sex sexual experiences at a young age. These feelings of doubt and insecurity eventually make him into a problem child, leading him into a world of drug abuse. His mother also seems to absent, at least emotionally. His personal problems eventually get him expelled from school and he heads farther into his downward spiral.
This is where my interpretation of the song varies from others. At age 19, he returns to a school and approaches a boy to get "closure." Many have surmised he is about to give a child drugs or abuse the child in some fashion. i think that this boy is Howard's first sexual partner, still a "boy" because he is still in school. Howard approaches him, and hopefully, is able to get the kind of emotional closure he needs from the boy.
Interesting interpretation of Age 19... makes sense to me and I like that a lot better than the meaning that most people jump to.
Interesting interpretation of Age 19... makes sense to me and I like that a lot better than the meaning that most people jump to.