For me, this is a song about a couple trying to make it through their overall station in life with the male lead (Sean) taking on the parent role whether he likes it or not. Shannon is in rehab and is an alcoholic, and maybe Sean is an alcoholic as well; he is certainly an enabler. And possibly he doesn’t want her to change.
Sean doesn’t really believe in rehabilitation or, perhaps, doesn’t believe Shannon can be rehabilitated. He certainly doesn’t trust the doctors, and is leery of what will happen to their relationship when/if she actually does come back clean. "What the Hell we gonna do when they finally let you come home from the hospital? Sit around the house and make fake plans and then walk down to the Wagon Wheel?” He certainly doesn’t see change on the horizon, because there will still be the same massive bills and worries at home after she is released from the hospital that caused her (maybe him) to turn to alcohol abuse in the first place.
Shannon loves Sean in a way she doesn’t love herself. She’s a good but beaten down person and she knows it. She is constantly saying “to him that she’s sorry lookin’ up with terrified eyes.” I don’t know if she does this because she is ashamed or because Sean abuses her. She’s got her problems and doesn’t even try to hide them as she takes medication at the bar, and crosses herself Catholic style when receiving a free drink.
Sean is frustrated by Shannon’s behavior, but he can’t let her go. He holds on. “Frustration is a funny friend, funny enough that he keeps coming up and making me do things that I don't like.” Does that mean he wants to let go of her but can’t, or is that an excuse for his potential abuse I spoke of earlier? I don’t know.
I do know this; Sean decides to leave the door open for Shannon to continue to be her self-destructive-self after leaving rehab when he says, “When you come home from the hospital we can’t go back to the Wagon Wheel. And if we do, we can’t go every night.”
For me, this is a song about a couple trying to make it through their overall station in life with the male lead (Sean) taking on the parent role whether he likes it or not. Shannon is in rehab and is an alcoholic, and maybe Sean is an alcoholic as well; he is certainly an enabler. And possibly he doesn’t want her to change.
Sean doesn’t really believe in rehabilitation or, perhaps, doesn’t believe Shannon can be rehabilitated. He certainly doesn’t trust the doctors, and is leery of what will happen to their relationship when/if she actually does come back clean. "What the Hell we gonna do when they finally let you come home from the hospital? Sit around the house and make fake plans and then walk down to the Wagon Wheel?” He certainly doesn’t see change on the horizon, because there will still be the same massive bills and worries at home after she is released from the hospital that caused her (maybe him) to turn to alcohol abuse in the first place.
Shannon loves Sean in a way she doesn’t love herself. She’s a good but beaten down person and she knows it. She is constantly saying “to him that she’s sorry lookin’ up with terrified eyes.” I don’t know if she does this because she is ashamed or because Sean abuses her. She’s got her problems and doesn’t even try to hide them as she takes medication at the bar, and crosses herself Catholic style when receiving a free drink.
Sean is frustrated by Shannon’s behavior, but he can’t let her go. He holds on. “Frustration is a funny friend, funny enough that he keeps coming up and making me do things that I don't like.” Does that mean he wants to let go of her but can’t, or is that an excuse for his potential abuse I spoke of earlier? I don’t know.
I do know this; Sean decides to leave the door open for Shannon to continue to be her self-destructive-self after leaving rehab when he says, “When you come home from the hospital we can’t go back to the Wagon Wheel. And if we do, we can’t go every night.”
Great song by Craig Finn, per the usual.