It's really powerful, really savage, this song. My idea is that all the pressures of life and a proper relationship are really starting to constrict and depress the songwriter (Richey, I'm thinking). They can't really get connected to the other person and find the whole thing really restrictive and dispiriting, and just want to end it ('lets go shoot the fucking doves'). The peaceful past seems so appealing to them compared to the future. In the end, writing lyrics and music is the only thing keeping them even slightly sane, as well as being the only way for them to express their emotions. Therefore they are 'condemned to rock n' roll' as it is the only way of life possible for them.
It's really powerful, really savage, this song. My idea is that all the pressures of life and a proper relationship are really starting to constrict and depress the songwriter (Richey, I'm thinking). They can't really get connected to the other person and find the whole thing really restrictive and dispiriting, and just want to end it ('lets go shoot the fucking doves'). The peaceful past seems so appealing to them compared to the future. In the end, writing lyrics and music is the only thing keeping them even slightly sane, as well as being the only way for them to express their emotions. Therefore they are 'condemned to rock n' roll' as it is the only way of life possible for them.