I think he's remembering when he left home. And he misses all the mundane day-to-day stuff that went on in his parents' house. He's describing a typical day in "our house" but then smack in the middle of that: "Something tells you that you've got to get away from it". He's nearing adulthood and he's starting to get the feeling it's time to leave the nest.
"She's the one they're going to miss in lots of ways". Most kids who come from the kind of traditional family this song describes, miss their mothers (and everything that Mom did for them as children) when they first leave home. Mom was always the nurturer, the mother hen, the cat herder. Dad "wears his Sunday best" and "gets up late for work". He filled his traditional role of providing for his family but was aloof and distant from the kids, so when they leave home they're going to miss Mom but not so much Dad.
"I remember way back then when everything was true and when
We would have such a very good time such a fine time
Such a happy time
And I remember how we'd play simply waste the day away
Then we'd say nothing would come between us two dreamers"
The bridge lyrics suggest that the first half was a flashback, as the tense changes from present to past tense and remains that way for the remainder of the song. Where the main verses refer to the past in the present tense, the bridge drags us out of the daydream and back to remembering the past as the past.
I think he's remembering when he left home. And he misses all the mundane day-to-day stuff that went on in his parents' house. He's describing a typical day in "our house" but then smack in the middle of that: "Something tells you that you've got to get away from it". He's nearing adulthood and he's starting to get the feeling it's time to leave the nest.
"She's the one they're going to miss in lots of ways". Most kids who come from the kind of traditional family this song describes, miss their mothers (and everything that Mom did for them as children) when they first leave home. Mom was always the nurturer, the mother hen, the cat herder. Dad "wears his Sunday best" and "gets up late for work". He filled his traditional role of providing for his family but was aloof and distant from the kids, so when they leave home they're going to miss Mom but not so much Dad.
"I remember way back then when everything was true and when We would have such a very good time such a fine time Such a happy time And I remember how we'd play simply waste the day away Then we'd say nothing would come between us two dreamers"
The bridge lyrics suggest that the first half was a flashback, as the tense changes from present to past tense and remains that way for the remainder of the song. Where the main verses refer to the past in the present tense, the bridge drags us out of the daydream and back to remembering the past as the past.