The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner (1999)
In what plays like an autobiography, this song details the narrator’s struggle to figure out what to do with his life. It begins, and ends, with his considering The Army. He tries The Army, but drops out and forms a band instead. Then The Band breaks up and reforms without him. The story goes on, detailing his different employments and his sad life until he becomes what we assume is President.
“Been thinking a lot today…” is the refrain. It’s a common reverence that most of us have mused at one point or another: head low, voice lower, lowball of whisky in hand, and a sneer. It’s a song that’s as much about the past as the future. It shows the unlikely domino trail that can befall even the smallest decisions, like wanting to join the army.