@@jeremypr not many punk rock icons can still kill it in the same way in their 40s. Overall I think Conor is aging more gracefully than most and when they did this song at the DC show it slayed.
The arc of time the stench of sex. It’s about the life cycle, free will, fate, and consciousness. it starts basic, a wedding a baby born, but delves into consciousness and how even if we have free will it’s still about what comes next. Conor mentions Insects and nature because they don’t question what their purpose is - they do what they need to do for “the next one down the line.” The speaker longs for such a simple view of the world. “No politics no history”, and argues that there is such a thing as choice and free will. “There’s choices I can make. My heart needs a polygraph, I’m always so eager to pack my bags. When I wanna stay. When I wanna stay” Conor/narrator feels the weight of it all, what came before and what comes next. Pleading with the universe to understand his place.“The instinct of the blind insect, who never thinks not to accept its fate - that’s faith. There’s happiness in death.” This isn’t morbid as much as, if you’ve given to the “next one” then what more can you ask for? That’s the arc of time, from the beginning until it ends a never ending process of symmetry. Life to death to life again. I don’t read this song is an argument for or against free will, fate, or consciousness I think the narrator resigns to the fact that it again doesn’t matter and what does is the constant cycle of giving to the next one. He concludes by repeating again and again “you give to the next one down the line”
