I realize that this song has been shown to be about Jesse's grandfather suffering from cancer, but I would like to share my first impression of what it was about.
I saw it as a song written about a loved one who is depressed and suicidal, and this is the narrator's (using narrator because i can't think of a better word right now) reaction to this discovery. I'm not sure if this would make sense to others or not, so I will elaborate.
Ever since I was young
your word is the word that always won
Worry and wake the ones you love
Kind of an indication that the depressed person was in the narrator's life for a long time (childhood friend, for example), and their thoughts and opinions were important. The last line could be either a plea from the narrator to the loved one to "wake" their other loved ones to come to them, or the narrator "waking" them himself, as to surround the depressed person with love and support.
A phone call I'd rather not receive
Please use my body while I sleep
My lungs are fresh and yours to keep,
kept clean and they will let you breathe
Clearly, a phone call that someone you love is depressed and suicidal (having possibly already attempted suicide) is not the kind of phone call one would look forward to. The following three lines may not seem to fit this story quite as well, but I can see how they worked when I first heard them. Having been in a low place before (as we all have), I can understand the feeling of wanting out of my own body, being disgusted with myself. The narrator is almost saying "here, take mine if you hate yours. I will do anything to give you that breath of fresh air you need."
Is this the way a toy feels when its batteries run dry?
I am the watch you always wear, but you forget to wind
Finding out that a loved one is in that sort of emotional state would (I imagine) take the wind out of your sails. I interpret the second line as the narrator saying "I am always here, close by, to help you out. You just have to remember that."
Nobody plans to be half a world away at times like these,
so I sat alone and waited out the night
The best part of what has happened was the part I must have missed
So I'm asking you to shine it up and stick around
I'm not writing my goodbyes
As with the other interpretations, I saw the first line as the narrator lamenting being away from home/the person when the news came, making helping that much more difficult, if not impossible. The narrator ended up sitting up all night worrying by himself, being completely unable to find a silver lining in the situation. The last two lines are his plea to the loved one to "shine it up and stick around" as he does not want to lose the person ("not writing my goodbyes").
I'm going to skip a bit of the song, as this post is already getting rather lengthy, and just do a few more lines.
I'm not letting you check out
You will beat this starting now and you will always be around
I'm there to monitor your breathing
I will watch you while you're sleeping
I will keep you safe and sound
This is the narrator telling the loved one that he (the narrator) will personally not allow them to commit suicide, or "check out." The depressed person will pull themselves out of this low point with the help of others, and "always be around." The narrator is even willing to be there at all times to "monitor your breathing," "watch you while you're sleeping," and "keep you safe and sound."
Well that's my take on it, I wanted to see if anybody else ever heard the same thing or if this was just something crazy.
I realize that this song has been shown to be about Jesse's grandfather suffering from cancer, but I would like to share my first impression of what it was about.
I saw it as a song written about a loved one who is depressed and suicidal, and this is the narrator's (using narrator because i can't think of a better word right now) reaction to this discovery. I'm not sure if this would make sense to others or not, so I will elaborate.
Kind of an indication that the depressed person was in the narrator's life for a long time (childhood friend, for example), and their thoughts and opinions were important. The last line could be either a plea from the narrator to the loved one to "wake" their other loved ones to come to them, or the narrator "waking" them himself, as to surround the depressed person with love and support.
Clearly, a phone call that someone you love is depressed and suicidal (having possibly already attempted suicide) is not the kind of phone call one would look forward to. The following three lines may not seem to fit this story quite as well, but I can see how they worked when I first heard them. Having been in a low place before (as we all have), I can understand the feeling of wanting out of my own body, being disgusted with myself. The narrator is almost saying "here, take mine if you hate yours. I will do anything to give you that breath of fresh air you need."
Finding out that a loved one is in that sort of emotional state would (I imagine) take the wind out of your sails. I interpret the second line as the narrator saying "I am always here, close by, to help you out. You just have to remember that."
As with the other interpretations, I saw the first line as the narrator lamenting being away from home/the person when the news came, making helping that much more difficult, if not impossible. The narrator ended up sitting up all night worrying by himself, being completely unable to find a silver lining in the situation. The last two lines are his plea to the loved one to "shine it up and stick around" as he does not want to lose the person ("not writing my goodbyes").
I'm going to skip a bit of the song, as this post is already getting rather lengthy, and just do a few more lines.
This is the narrator telling the loved one that he (the narrator) will personally not allow them to commit suicide, or "check out." The depressed person will pull themselves out of this low point with the help of others, and "always be around." The narrator is even willing to be there at all times to "monitor your breathing," "watch you while you're sleeping," and "keep you safe and sound."
Well that's my take on it, I wanted to see if anybody else ever heard the same thing or if this was just something crazy.
This is exactly how I felt. Thank you for putting it into such perfect words.
This is exactly how I felt. Thank you for putting it into such perfect words.