It's a "you and me against the world" song. And a song about bucking responsibility (for good & bad).
Trudy and Dave are married with a young baby. This is the point when your young, rebel life ends and you have to become an adult. Dave fantasizes a lot about being that "mysterious" man with a pistol and a cigarette, but instead drives the family down to the 'strip mall laundromat' for chores; he probably doesn't look that sexy with his "three-day beard." Trudy notably washes their bell-bottom jeans, harkening back to a recent-but-distant era of their non-conformism. That's life in your 30s, folks! Discussion about Dave's parents makes it clear this is a cyclical part of life.
Dave struggles with feeling some resentment at his family for the change in his life (& perhaps other disappointments), but is mature enough to realize it's not their fault: "it wasn't them at all, just life that was mean."
Dave is constantly tempted by the desire to return to that life ("follow that shot") and eventually decides to go for it, at least on that day. In my view, the violence and danger are a bit more metaphorical here. Their bell-bottom jeans imply more of a hippie than gangster vibe. And the crime at the end is to shoot an ATM only for laundry money. So, I read this as a general decision to do something 'out there' rather than literally about shooting an ATM (which wouldn't work with a $20 pistol anyway).
The song feels mostly positive about the choice, but it's a short-term outcome. The song tells us "that they drove away clean" and, notice, that they use the money to wash their laundry -- the act is refreshing, perhaps clearing the 'dirty laundry' of their relationship or life. Still, I think the song understands this sort of rebellion isn't a permanent solution and that's the danger. The song does call them "crazy" and Dave's mom makes an appearance noting that if he follows that desire to lash out it will be "to his grave." So, the happy ending is tainted by the knowledge that the temptation to evade responsibility might be too much in the long run.
It's a "you and me against the world" song. And a song about bucking responsibility (for good & bad).
Trudy and Dave are married with a young baby. This is the point when your young, rebel life ends and you have to become an adult. Dave fantasizes a lot about being that "mysterious" man with a pistol and a cigarette, but instead drives the family down to the 'strip mall laundromat' for chores; he probably doesn't look that sexy with his "three-day beard." Trudy notably washes their bell-bottom jeans, harkening back to a recent-but-distant era of their non-conformism. That's life in your 30s, folks! Discussion about Dave's parents makes it clear this is a cyclical part of life.
Dave struggles with feeling some resentment at his family for the change in his life (& perhaps other disappointments), but is mature enough to realize it's not their fault: "it wasn't them at all, just life that was mean."
Dave is constantly tempted by the desire to return to that life ("follow that shot") and eventually decides to go for it, at least on that day. In my view, the violence and danger are a bit more metaphorical here. Their bell-bottom jeans imply more of a hippie than gangster vibe. And the crime at the end is to shoot an ATM only for laundry money. So, I read this as a general decision to do something 'out there' rather than literally about shooting an ATM (which wouldn't work with a $20 pistol anyway).
The song feels mostly positive about the choice, but it's a short-term outcome. The song tells us "that they drove away clean" and, notice, that they use the money to wash their laundry -- the act is refreshing, perhaps clearing the 'dirty laundry' of their relationship or life. Still, I think the song understands this sort of rebellion isn't a permanent solution and that's the danger. The song does call them "crazy" and Dave's mom makes an appearance noting that if he follows that desire to lash out it will be "to his grave." So, the happy ending is tainted by the knowledge that the temptation to evade responsibility might be too much in the long run.
[Edit: space between lines]