So this is just what I think it's about. Before I get into what I think it's about a cool little fact: J (the singer/lyricist) said in an interview that while this song was in the making he would play it in front of friends and family and everyone who heard it would have mental breakdowns and him and Michael Roberts (guitar) had to keep stopping the recording process in the studio because it was hard to get through.
I personally think the song is about J being molested by his biological father.
The Rose might symbolize a gift or "hush-money." We know it's about his father because he says "hating you was easy cuz 'your bud' was growing." Father's tend to call their kids "bud" all the time and J was growing up (J is the 'bud') and started realizing what was happening was wrong.
We know he's being molested because he says
"So when the lights go out in Texas...." When the lights went out in Texas is when he was molested "you arose from how it turned you on for one last time" (meaning he was gonna rape him). And his father clearly though he'd get away with it because he says "nobody cares to speak" (telling J there's no use in telling anybody because no one would care) "or figure it out." His dad thought no one would ever know.
He puts "us friends" in parentheses because his father probably said to him "we're friends right? And friends keep secrets. So we can keep this a secret." (The secret being the molestation of course)
When he says "12 gauge brother that has power over you" he means that he'd fight off his father with a shotgun (Everytime his father would return home J would have to get his shotgun and threaten to kill his dad). That also goes hand-in-hand with the lyrics "to kill you then was too difficult" because he couldn't bring himself to kill his dad after he'd done.
"Don't do this to me cuz there is no need" it should be obvious what that means.
"So he would take on a job with that prison down in Huntington." His father is the subject here and the "job" really means he was found molesting J and went to prison.
J was also put into foster care he reveals with the lines "the foster kid had found a friend and a room" J is the foster kid because his dad went to jail and J went into foster care.
"You'll have to burn off his face to forget this" could either mean 1. His dad would have to "burn off" J's face to forget the guilt (which is more like he means this bc the previous lines talk about his dad) or 2. J would have to burn off his father's face to forget being molested.
"A bittersweet meat pot-pourri memory of you" (if even that's what he's saying) might mean that his memory of his father is just a bittersweet meat pot-pourri.
That's just what I think it's about (and I probably got the point of view wrong for certain parts). And maybe J wasn't the one molested; it could've been someone he knew or just about molestation in general because it is a problem in the world.
That is just my interpretation of it though. J is a great poet and singer and I didn't want to post on here just to get the meaning wrong but I felt like this needed to be shared. And I didn't even go through all the lyrics, there are more layers to be uncovered here but I have no idea what the "calytus" symbolizes. Thanks for taking the time to read my interpretation of such a masterpiece.
So this is just what I think it's about. Before I get into what I think it's about a cool little fact: J (the singer/lyricist) said in an interview that while this song was in the making he would play it in front of friends and family and everyone who heard it would have mental breakdowns and him and Michael Roberts (guitar) had to keep stopping the recording process in the studio because it was hard to get through. I personally think the song is about J being molested by his biological father. The Rose might symbolize a gift or "hush-money." We know it's about his father because he says "hating you was easy cuz 'your bud' was growing." Father's tend to call their kids "bud" all the time and J was growing up (J is the 'bud') and started realizing what was happening was wrong. We know he's being molested because he says "So when the lights go out in Texas...." When the lights went out in Texas is when he was molested "you arose from how it turned you on for one last time" (meaning he was gonna rape him). And his father clearly though he'd get away with it because he says "nobody cares to speak" (telling J there's no use in telling anybody because no one would care) "or figure it out." His dad thought no one would ever know. He puts "us friends" in parentheses because his father probably said to him "we're friends right? And friends keep secrets. So we can keep this a secret." (The secret being the molestation of course) When he says "12 gauge brother that has power over you" he means that he'd fight off his father with a shotgun (Everytime his father would return home J would have to get his shotgun and threaten to kill his dad). That also goes hand-in-hand with the lyrics "to kill you then was too difficult" because he couldn't bring himself to kill his dad after he'd done. "Don't do this to me cuz there is no need" it should be obvious what that means. "So he would take on a job with that prison down in Huntington." His father is the subject here and the "job" really means he was found molesting J and went to prison. J was also put into foster care he reveals with the lines "the foster kid had found a friend and a room" J is the foster kid because his dad went to jail and J went into foster care. "You'll have to burn off his face to forget this" could either mean 1. His dad would have to "burn off" J's face to forget the guilt (which is more like he means this bc the previous lines talk about his dad) or 2. J would have to burn off his father's face to forget being molested. "A bittersweet meat pot-pourri memory of you" (if even that's what he's saying) might mean that his memory of his father is just a bittersweet meat pot-pourri. That's just what I think it's about (and I probably got the point of view wrong for certain parts). And maybe J wasn't the one molested; it could've been someone he knew or just about molestation in general because it is a problem in the world. That is just my interpretation of it though. J is a great poet and singer and I didn't want to post on here just to get the meaning wrong but I felt like this needed to be shared. And I didn't even go through all the lyrics, there are more layers to be uncovered here but I have no idea what the "calytus" symbolizes. Thanks for taking the time to read my interpretation of such a masterpiece.