The song begins through a slow and steady bass line with underlying tones of an electric guitar. Calm, then little by little, the song begins. The calm beat of the drums. The heavenly synth raises its voice over the rest of the crowd. The roar of the second synth over the first. It is only after the song truly begins do these sounds begin to condense and harmonise with one another. And throughout this discord there is unity. There is meaning behind the cacophony, there is a beat behind the song. The leitmotif behind the song, that single line of piano that repeats. Recurring. An ear-worm that never truly leaves, the fire inside you that never dies. The tempo matches this, constantly stopping and picking itself back up again. And 1 minute and 28 seconds into this organised chaos, he begins to sing.

The lyrics are mesmerising and into one another effortlessly. Like a conversation with an old friend. The narrator speaks of a celebration due to their recent acquisition of “All the funds… to celebrate.” However this is only in due course because of their “heavy wisdoms” again, “tethered to their paid educations.” Money is a prevalent theme behind the narrator’s desires. It not only funds their celebrations, but also their schooling. A road pathed by money. Remember this as the song progresses into the chorus. “When in doubt I just return to what feels safest.” This line depicts the narrator’s life away from the gratitude, the celebration, all the funds. They wish to return to when they feel stressed, to turn back the clock and live life blissfully ignorant. Living in only “plentiness and bright embraces.” These two verses already begin to paint a canvas of the narrator’s life. One of decadence and support. Yet when the party stops and the crowd departs, they are left alone with nothing but a well run dry. They lived once but are old now.

Furthermore this idea of reminiscing over better times and a theme of loneliness is prevalent throughout the second verse. “And you and all your friends have shown me my generation.” The narrator is not referencing a younger generation here, instead the past and how he acted prior. Yet now he is being superseded, praised prior yet the narrator laments over how “we’re the big fish, we have little pond to spare.” How he “never showed to parties with no juice prepared.” “Juice” in this connotation could either convey the narrator’s previous monetary movements or grandiose achievements. He would always come to parties with either “all the funds” or “celebrations.” Yet for some reason or another, he no longer does, seemingly stagnating as the song progresses back to the chorus. The narrator literally progresses back to his toxic patterns of wishing for a life of only “plentiness and warm embraces.” He refuses to look forward and is stuck in the past. They constantly relate their own worth to their “Juice” and the loss of it.

The chorus remains the same however with an added call to the void. The narrator “needs the answer.” to an unasked question. This seemingly devoid part of their life which they have missed out on all of their life. They had it once. The “Juice.” He “doesn’t mind the facts.” He doesn’t mind the harsh truth which would seemingly make his life full and whole again. But as these words fall on deaf ears, again, he reiterates what he longs for. “Life is only plentiness and bright embraces.” A return to baseline. The interpretation of this part of the song acts as a segue into the second half of the song. A ballad to loss and loneliness.

“Hey man, come down. Just one goodbye. You won’t get left out. You gotta fit sometimes.” The narrator calls for an outsider, “man”, a friend of some sort as he requests “just one goodbye.” Anything to remind himself of how he used to live, how he used to feel. Yet the last goodbye already happened. In the very first stanza. There are no more funds, no more celebrations, no breaking free of a tethered education. Because it has all already happened. As the song progresses into the final two verses, all of these themes of constant emptiness and the narrator’s own loneliness culminate into an emotional outburst.

The narrator’s voice is soft and tender, personal. It's as if he’s talking to a close friend or reminiscing about the past they shared with one another. Most notably the same friend he addresses to “come down.” “It’s only expressions, but that was our year.” Highlighting the simplicity behind the fun he once had when they were together. How liberating he felt before it all came crashing down in the next few lines. “I called your name in the dark of the neighbourhood. Entertain the chance.” Even at the narrator’s lowest points, he still calls for his friend. For redemption, a second chance at the zenith of his life. The “neighbourhood” is a metaphor for their combined connection. Yet it was dark. Devoid. The lights were on but they went out long ago. He still can’t stomach this fact. He still calls out.