I tend to hear the song as being narrated by a sort of muse, who asks Nick (or the listener) what the direction of his life will be.
The star as a metaphor brings navigation to mind. And "which will you answer, which will you call" makes me think less of romantic love (although it still could be that, and the ambiguity is something I like about the song) and more about devotion to a cause.
Music can be a hard road -- you choose it knowing that things won't be comfortable, and most likely it won't pan out. I can imagine Nick's muse saying, almost sarcastically, "which (path) will you take if you won't take me?" And Nick recounts it to us with a kind of resignation -- he can't just live, he has to choose something to live in service of.
I tend to hear the song as being narrated by a sort of muse, who asks Nick (or the listener) what the direction of his life will be.
The star as a metaphor brings navigation to mind. And "which will you answer, which will you call" makes me think less of romantic love (although it still could be that, and the ambiguity is something I like about the song) and more about devotion to a cause.
Music can be a hard road -- you choose it knowing that things won't be comfortable, and most likely it won't pan out. I can imagine Nick's muse saying, almost sarcastically, "which (path) will you take if you won't take me?" And Nick recounts it to us with a kind of resignation -- he can't just live, he has to choose something to live in service of.