If you think the ending ("Somewhere in the distance, there's seven new people born") is positive in any way, I cannot stress enough how wrong you are. Every verse - every thing that happens to Hollis - is bleak to create a feeling of hopelessness. The seven new people are also being born into a world where this kind of poverty exists, and the same life should be expected for them. It is a very bleak song.
If you think the ending ("Somewhere in the distance, there's seven new people born") is positive in any way, I cannot stress enough how wrong you are. Every verse - every thing that happens to Hollis - is bleak to create a feeling of hopelessness. The seven new people are also being born into a world where this kind of poverty exists, and the same life should be expected for them. It is a very bleak song.