The creative thinker / body-to-push-around part of the song is mysterious-- unless it refers to his mother, or a half-sibling. I can't help thinking the song has to do with his stepfather. Charlie may have thought he was being used when Elliott started writing songs alleging abuse and using Charlie's name. Supposedly around 1998 Charlie wrote Elliott a letter apologizing for being so hard on him. Elliott might have considered writing a letter to make up for destroying someone's childhood an "easy way out." But Elliott also said in interviews that the person involved in his abuse had become a changed man. That would have left Elliott without an enemy. He still had his childhood issues, but no focus for them. The line "I got stuck on a side you know I never chose" certainly sounds like he got stuck on his mother's side of the family.
The creative thinker / body-to-push-around part of the song is mysterious-- unless it refers to his mother, or a half-sibling. I can't help thinking the song has to do with his stepfather. Charlie may have thought he was being used when Elliott started writing songs alleging abuse and using Charlie's name. Supposedly around 1998 Charlie wrote Elliott a letter apologizing for being so hard on him. Elliott might have considered writing a letter to make up for destroying someone's childhood an "easy way out." But Elliott also said in interviews that the person involved in his abuse had become a changed man. That would have left Elliott without an enemy. He still had his childhood issues, but no focus for them. The line "I got stuck on a side you know I never chose" certainly sounds like he got stuck on his mother's side of the family.