I think that the first verses are mostly just an illustration of the life of a person who lives in south MPLS... how they think, what they witness, etc... The message is kind of like, your roots are what makes you... you will always be where you come from... That is why when he is in line, he notices that he is "invisible" and that the till is full... a person from the rich part of the city might not reallize that there is an opportunity for a robbery... but he does... even if he doesn't have the intent to rob the place... similar things apply to the single mother and the kid with the gun.
The stroll through the town, and the various encounters is a kind of metaphor for life... these are the experiences that we live, and the experiences that make us. the last verse is different... He is getting near the end of the journey (of life)... the constellations dying are his friends and family... the heavens opening is a very death vibe too... but I think that the moral of all this is in the last lines... I think the rest of the song, on the surface seems inconcequencial... but at the end we realize it is about his lonliness as a way of life... I mean, he has the chance to find companionship with the young mother, but decides to walk off... living his lonely life is kind of his way...
"I'm coming back home to you" isn't as much a place or person, as it is his nature... He can do certain things, or try certain things, but his nature will always be there... he will always be what he is... his roots are just that, his roots, his essence... A place (Southside MPLS in this case) makes a lot of what a person is... And I think that is why the easiest interpretation is that he is coming back to southside... but it goes a bit deeper I think... the place is also a metaphor for all that he is...
I think that the first verses are mostly just an illustration of the life of a person who lives in south MPLS... how they think, what they witness, etc... The message is kind of like, your roots are what makes you... you will always be where you come from... That is why when he is in line, he notices that he is "invisible" and that the till is full... a person from the rich part of the city might not reallize that there is an opportunity for a robbery... but he does... even if he doesn't have the intent to rob the place... similar things apply to the single mother and the kid with the gun.
The stroll through the town, and the various encounters is a kind of metaphor for life... these are the experiences that we live, and the experiences that make us. the last verse is different... He is getting near the end of the journey (of life)... the constellations dying are his friends and family... the heavens opening is a very death vibe too... but I think that the moral of all this is in the last lines... I think the rest of the song, on the surface seems inconcequencial... but at the end we realize it is about his lonliness as a way of life... I mean, he has the chance to find companionship with the young mother, but decides to walk off... living his lonely life is kind of his way...
"I'm coming back home to you" isn't as much a place or person, as it is his nature... He can do certain things, or try certain things, but his nature will always be there... he will always be what he is... his roots are just that, his roots, his essence... A place (Southside MPLS in this case) makes a lot of what a person is... And I think that is why the easiest interpretation is that he is coming back to southside... but it goes a bit deeper I think... the place is also a metaphor for all that he is...
I don't know... that is my take...
[Edit: just added a couple things]