In the verses we see imagery from low points in life - regret ("How to unring the bell/it's just as well"), pain ("Hell in a nutshell"), hopelessness ("Is any song worth singing/if it doesn't help"), embarrassment ("an embarrassing poem/was written when I was alone/in love with you"). The line "Fill up your mind with all it can know/Don't forget that your body will let it all go" is a dismal one. We spend our lives learning, experiencing, feeling, studying, memorizing, etc. until death, when it all nearly becomes useless. And yet!... after all this melancholy recollections and revelations, Tweedy poses the question "What would we/love be without wishful thinking?"
I think in the end, Tweedy has seen all the bad in our world/his life and has come to question life and existence. He knows that if humanity viewed life in this very, very dark light, well... we probably wouldn't be here. Wishful thinking keeps humanity going. Ignoring and avoiding the bad and hoping for better days has kept our morales up and our lives worth living. We keep experiencing, learning, memorizing, etc. because wishful thinking encourages us to.
And at the end of the song, Tweedy finds his own wishful thinking - "I got up off my hands and knees/to thank my lucky stars that you're not me." He is thankful that a special someone/humanity does not see life and question our existence in the way he does, and that wishful thinking has blinded them/us from this revelation. He finds a little bit of positivity (read: wishful thinking) among the bad - which is that wishful thinking exits.
Ironic.
Brilliant.
In the verses we see imagery from low points in life - regret ("How to unring the bell/it's just as well"), pain ("Hell in a nutshell"), hopelessness ("Is any song worth singing/if it doesn't help"), embarrassment ("an embarrassing poem/was written when I was alone/in love with you"). The line "Fill up your mind with all it can know/Don't forget that your body will let it all go" is a dismal one. We spend our lives learning, experiencing, feeling, studying, memorizing, etc. until death, when it all nearly becomes useless. And yet!... after all this melancholy recollections and revelations, Tweedy poses the question "What would we/love be without wishful thinking?"
I think in the end, Tweedy has seen all the bad in our world/his life and has come to question life and existence. He knows that if humanity viewed life in this very, very dark light, well... we probably wouldn't be here. Wishful thinking keeps humanity going. Ignoring and avoiding the bad and hoping for better days has kept our morales up and our lives worth living. We keep experiencing, learning, memorizing, etc. because wishful thinking encourages us to.
And at the end of the song, Tweedy finds his own wishful thinking - "I got up off my hands and knees/to thank my lucky stars that you're not me." He is thankful that a special someone/humanity does not see life and question our existence in the way he does, and that wishful thinking has blinded them/us from this revelation. He finds a little bit of positivity (read: wishful thinking) among the bad - which is that wishful thinking exits. Ironic. Brilliant.