I agree that this song is an expression of a hypocritical society, however I also think that this song's central message is expressed in the very first verse.
The first verse is about the singer's thoughts when contemplating suicide. He's struggling to find his own identity, and feels like he's alone in such a busy place. He's got "bad ideas, but ideas nonetheless".
The chorus is about persevering in life even though he's not happy with his life or relationship status. He just doesn't want to die like this, so he'll just keep moving on with life and what comes next.
The second verse is where he describes how religion's got his friends "locked up" and constrained to rules of religion which prevent them from living to fuller potential. He doesn't need religion to tell him what's right and wrong (similar to how parents "raise" children).
The third verse dabbles in a bit of self-pity, and then he reminds himself of his father, who is an inspiration to him. His father fights every day to live. If the only thing he's ever known is his song, then he'll live to sing for his father.
This is his "turning point", which is what he needed to get himself off the train track (yes! the loud horn and chugging noises after that verse definitely symbolizes a train speeding past him).
TLDR: This whole song is about being on the verge of suicide. He can't accept suicide to be an end to his life even though life sucks and isn't going his way, so he looks to his father for inspiration to keep singing.
Yeah, this is my opinion, and others will not interpret the song the way I do. I was surprised to see that no one else had already posted something about death in this comments section. I personally feel like I'm able to relate to this song because I've been depressed to this extent as well. Although my brain said I was finished, my heart couldn't accept that kind of ending. So I put the pills away and deleted all the notes, and put one foot in front of the other :)
Central message: Suicide's not the way to die!
I agree that this song is an expression of a hypocritical society, however I also think that this song's central message is expressed in the very first verse.
The first verse is about the singer's thoughts when contemplating suicide. He's struggling to find his own identity, and feels like he's alone in such a busy place. He's got "bad ideas, but ideas nonetheless".
The chorus is about persevering in life even though he's not happy with his life or relationship status. He just doesn't want to die like this, so he'll just keep moving on with life and what comes next.
The second verse is where he describes how religion's got his friends "locked up" and constrained to rules of religion which prevent them from living to fuller potential. He doesn't need religion to tell him what's right and wrong (similar to how parents "raise" children).
The third verse dabbles in a bit of self-pity, and then he reminds himself of his father, who is an inspiration to him. His father fights every day to live. If the only thing he's ever known is his song, then he'll live to sing for his father.
This is his "turning point", which is what he needed to get himself off the train track (yes! the loud horn and chugging noises after that verse definitely symbolizes a train speeding past him).
TLDR: This whole song is about being on the verge of suicide. He can't accept suicide to be an end to his life even though life sucks and isn't going his way, so he looks to his father for inspiration to keep singing.
Yeah, this is my opinion, and others will not interpret the song the way I do. I was surprised to see that no one else had already posted something about death in this comments section. I personally feel like I'm able to relate to this song because I've been depressed to this extent as well. Although my brain said I was finished, my heart couldn't accept that kind of ending. So I put the pills away and deleted all the notes, and put one foot in front of the other :)
I hope I've shed some insight on this song!