I think that this ties in with 'Nice Things', not only because the titles are so similar, but this song explores the collapse of the West (specifically America) on a simpler level. It's saying that the superiority of this country is no longer. Perhaps he is looking at his own life in the same way in the first two verses, talking about irreversible mistakes and their impact. In the last verse he tries to bring this to the level of the country as a whole, showing how he will never feel American again, apart from that one, perhaps imaginary moment where the country was united and thriving. This is probably ironic. The end is a bleak, but poignant repetition of 'all good things should fall apart', saying that America's decline is brought on by itself and inevitable, due to its 'old and familiar failures'. He attributes the failures to himself at the beginning as well; he might be saying that we are all to blame for the decline.
I think that this ties in with 'Nice Things', not only because the titles are so similar, but this song explores the collapse of the West (specifically America) on a simpler level. It's saying that the superiority of this country is no longer. Perhaps he is looking at his own life in the same way in the first two verses, talking about irreversible mistakes and their impact. In the last verse he tries to bring this to the level of the country as a whole, showing how he will never feel American again, apart from that one, perhaps imaginary moment where the country was united and thriving. This is probably ironic. The end is a bleak, but poignant repetition of 'all good things should fall apart', saying that America's decline is brought on by itself and inevitable, due to its 'old and familiar failures'. He attributes the failures to himself at the beginning as well; he might be saying that we are all to blame for the decline.
I think you're wrong. The whole On the Impossible Past album is a breakup album, you read WAY too deep into it.
I think you're wrong. The whole On the Impossible Past album is a breakup album, you read WAY too deep into it.