I would have to say it is a barricade situation. The true nature of his crimes are left deliberately ambiguous. The song-writer did not want people to get stuck on a situation, but to feel an emotion. The prime emotion here: desperation. His father is neither a robot or a 'bookie'. BTW: bookies are bookMAKERS (gambling odd-setters and bet takers), not bookEEPERS(low-level accountants). He says that he is a bookeeper's son as a way to say that he is NOT a tough guy. He comes from a safe and stable up-bringing. He's just an average guy in a horrible situation. Something went wrong back home, and he has come to the end of the line hounded and surrounded by angry pedestrians and lawmen.
The mechanized hum is a reference to mental-illness. How else to truly good people end up commiting horrible acts? People in desperate situations or who have "snapped" and hurt someone will often "disconnect". They often say they heard voices or "ringing" or humming in their ears. They will say things had a very mechanical feel. They will later say that they were running on "autopilot". He is obviously desperate to get away from the mob, the police, justice, anxiety. So, he withdraws from reality into the dark recesses of his soul, by doing so, he realizes who he truly is, what he has done, and the true gravity of his situation.
I would have to say it is a barricade situation. The true nature of his crimes are left deliberately ambiguous. The song-writer did not want people to get stuck on a situation, but to feel an emotion. The prime emotion here: desperation. His father is neither a robot or a 'bookie'. BTW: bookies are bookMAKERS (gambling odd-setters and bet takers), not bookEEPERS(low-level accountants). He says that he is a bookeeper's son as a way to say that he is NOT a tough guy. He comes from a safe and stable up-bringing. He's just an average guy in a horrible situation. Something went wrong back home, and he has come to the end of the line hounded and surrounded by angry pedestrians and lawmen.
The mechanized hum is a reference to mental-illness. How else to truly good people end up commiting horrible acts? People in desperate situations or who have "snapped" and hurt someone will often "disconnect". They often say they heard voices or "ringing" or humming in their ears. They will say things had a very mechanical feel. They will later say that they were running on "autopilot". He is obviously desperate to get away from the mob, the police, justice, anxiety. So, he withdraws from reality into the dark recesses of his soul, by doing so, he realizes who he truly is, what he has done, and the true gravity of his situation.