Reasons Why--Nickel Creek

Lyrics:

Vs1)Where am I today? I wish that I knew.
'Cause looking around there's no sign of you.
I don't remember one jump or one leap.
Just quiet steps away from your lead.
I'm holding my heart out, but clutching it too.
Feeling this short of the love that we once knew.
Calling this home when it's not even close.
And playing the role with nerves left exposed.
Chs)Standing on your darkest day.
Stumbling through the lies.
Others have excuses,
I have my reasons why.
Vs2)We get distracted by the dreams of our own.
Nobody's happy while feeling alone.
Knowing how hard it hurts when we fall.
Lean another ladder against the wrong wall.
Chs)And climb high to the highest rock
To shake fists at the sky.
Others have excuses,
I have my reasons why.
Brdge)With so much perception,
It's hard not to wander away.
(Hard not to wander away.)
It's hard not to wander away.

Meaning:

This song meant a lot to me while I lived in Pennsylvania for 10 months, and I thinking the meaning still holds relatively the same. The first verse, how I took it at least, is saying that there's this person that doesn't know where they went wrong. Things aren't how they used to be, and they aren't following God like they know they should be. They don't remember how things got off-course, but they did. When I thought about it, I thought about how I would say Pennsylvania was "home," but it didn't even compare to where my heart was. And I was "playing the role" of being okay and going through the motions, when my nerves were "exposed" and so frayed I could hardly keep my inside together. The first chorus explains how lost we are, stumbling through the lies we try and keep and the darkness that surrounds us. And we always give the excuse that we have our reasons, when we all know that it no reason is good enough to shame ourselves with what we are doing. The second verse kind of explains more of that excuse; we get distracted, we can't be happy if we're alone, and we don't want to fall and face the pain. Then it says the last line, which I don't think is one of the "reasons," just the truth of the matter. They are leaning their hope, the ladder of who they are and how they cooperate, on another wrong wall; something else that won't really support us. The second chorus talks about our reactions. We climb to the highest rocks, we find our alone places, and we scream at the sky. We ask God how he could let us feel this way and bring us down. The bridge says that we have so much perception, and it's hard trying to stay focused. They repeat that it's "hard not to wander away." Yes. It is hard. But he told us it would be, and he's there every step of the way. The only trick is, he isn't going to force himself on us. We are free to choose what we want, and if we don't want him, he's not going to give himself to us. And the easiest thing we could ever do, is just ask him to pick us up. Because we aren't strong enough, no matter how many times we lie and tell everybody that we are. And we don't know this world, no matter how much we like to believe we do. It's God, and God only, that can get us through life.