I feel like there is quite a clear cut meaning to this song, more than any theories because he paints a picture with the lyrics that is so easy to follow. A soldier returns home from combat, is heavily traumatised, placed on many medications and struggling to get by. While he has found work, he’s paid very little and something different seems to go wrong. The government play the biggest factor because Tommy should be getting financial aid from them but they keep deflecting and he has to dip into his retirement fund which he loses all of (first he lost his pension). The only way for Tommy to make his voice heard and leave an impression on the congresspeople, is by committing a mass shooting on a parliament building which will at the end, include himself (I’m done playing games, so I’m going down in flames, let it rain over Washington).
I feel like there is quite a clear cut meaning to this song, more than any theories because he paints a picture with the lyrics that is so easy to follow. A soldier returns home from combat, is heavily traumatised, placed on many medications and struggling to get by. While he has found work, he’s paid very little and something different seems to go wrong. The government play the biggest factor because Tommy should be getting financial aid from them but they keep deflecting and he has to dip into his retirement fund which he loses all of (first he lost his pension). The only way for Tommy to make his voice heard and leave an impression on the congresspeople, is by committing a mass shooting on a parliament building which will at the end, include himself (I’m done playing games, so I’m going down in flames, let it rain over Washington).