The entire album of Stupid Dream seems to be riddled with Steven's angst over finding meaning in life. In Piano Lessons, he refers to becoming a rock star as a 'stupid dream'. In this song, he seems to be reflecting on how different his life is from his childhood friends. They may have parted over ideas of religion/atheism, or some such difference in ideology.
In the full version of the song, one of the last lines he sings is:
I had a stupid dream that I could change things
But I'm a martyr for even less.
And that line hits like a ton of bricks. Its as though he himself is realizing that whatever ideological differences separated him from his now dead friend are basically meaningless in light of the fact they are powerless to change anything. The entire song up until this point has been Steven telling his friend that he chose the wrong path (religion, etc). But this final confession shows just how empty his own path feels.
The entire album of Stupid Dream seems to be riddled with Steven's angst over finding meaning in life. In Piano Lessons, he refers to becoming a rock star as a 'stupid dream'. In this song, he seems to be reflecting on how different his life is from his childhood friends. They may have parted over ideas of religion/atheism, or some such difference in ideology.
In the full version of the song, one of the last lines he sings is:
I had a stupid dream that I could change things But I'm a martyr for even less.
And that line hits like a ton of bricks. Its as though he himself is realizing that whatever ideological differences separated him from his now dead friend are basically meaningless in light of the fact they are powerless to change anything. The entire song up until this point has been Steven telling his friend that he chose the wrong path (religion, etc). But this final confession shows just how empty his own path feels.