As a young adult, 21 years old, living through a lot of isolation with quarantine and familial issues, this song and the lyrics hold a special place for me, the first verse especially.
I take the first two lines, "I used to like to walk the straight and narrow line / I used to think that everything was fine," personal because I was the kid in school who thought "as long as I get decent grades and don't do drugs my life will be fine." However, this often precluded me from experiencing life openly, having fun, and being OK with my mistakes.
The thought of a good life, however, a healthy relationship, a good job, and a source of pride for my parents, was a happy dream that seemed to coincide with my straight and narrow lifestyle, as that's what I believed was best.
I think every kid experiences something like this, but that feeling of "if time just passes my life will get better and eventually I'll be fine" particularly resonates within me because I am particularly passive.
That was my breakdown of the first verse. The rest of the song is focused on whether he can look forward and how, desperately crying out for this to work through a supernatural medium, showing just how badly he wants to overcome this existential fear.
He knows it won't work though, which is why overall I see this song as a warning: don't live life by the book, waiting for it to get better.
Oh yeah, the music is simply terrific too. The acoustic guitar starts off beautifully, as well as Tommy Shaw's voice, and then picks up in a quintessential way to the genre, but the vocal melody, backing vocals, and arrangement make it feel unique. The synth solo is pretty cool too.
As a young adult, 21 years old, living through a lot of isolation with quarantine and familial issues, this song and the lyrics hold a special place for me, the first verse especially. I take the first two lines, "I used to like to walk the straight and narrow line / I used to think that everything was fine," personal because I was the kid in school who thought "as long as I get decent grades and don't do drugs my life will be fine." However, this often precluded me from experiencing life openly, having fun, and being OK with my mistakes. The thought of a good life, however, a healthy relationship, a good job, and a source of pride for my parents, was a happy dream that seemed to coincide with my straight and narrow lifestyle, as that's what I believed was best. I think every kid experiences something like this, but that feeling of "if time just passes my life will get better and eventually I'll be fine" particularly resonates within me because I am particularly passive. That was my breakdown of the first verse. The rest of the song is focused on whether he can look forward and how, desperately crying out for this to work through a supernatural medium, showing just how badly he wants to overcome this existential fear. He knows it won't work though, which is why overall I see this song as a warning: don't live life by the book, waiting for it to get better.
Oh yeah, the music is simply terrific too. The acoustic guitar starts off beautifully, as well as Tommy Shaw's voice, and then picks up in a quintessential way to the genre, but the vocal melody, backing vocals, and arrangement make it feel unique. The synth solo is pretty cool too.