Scared of losing all the time

He wrote it in a letter

He was a friend of mine

He heard you could see your future

Inside a glass of water

The ripples and the lines

And he asked "Will I see heaven in mine?"

 

(A person is very hectic and wants to know just everything NOW, without any effort.

Singer is talking about that person, he was a friend of him… (?). Person asked an older and wiser person (with life experience) about his own future, what he has to do, what to expect in life, will his life be positive?)

 

That is just the way it was

Nothing could be better

And nothing ever was

Oh, they say you can see your future

Inside a glass of water

The riddles and the rhymes

"Will I see heaven in mine?"

Oh-oh-oh-oh, I!

 

(Life is life, try your best…, he doesn’t want to answer the person’s questions exactly. But the person doesn’t stop with asking questions, he wants to know the answers to the riddles of life now. I think “glass of water” is meant to be a … metaphor of seeing everything so clear … crystal clear)

 

Son, don't ask

Neither how full nor empty is your glass

Cling to the mast

Spend your whole life living in the past

Going nowhere fast

 

(Finally stop! No matter how good or bad your life may be at the moment, make your own experience, cling the positive things in your life!)

 

So he wrote it on the wall

The hollowest of halos

Is no halo at all

Television selling plastic figurines of leaders

Sayin' nothing at all

And we chime

Stars in heaven align

Oh-oh-oh-oh, I!

 

(Person is planless now, he only sees what other people are doing and want him to do/be too. He doesn’t see that it’s not what he self wants to do with his life. He aligns. Then he is looking for answers and help again)

 

Son, don't ask

Neither how full nor empty is your glass

Cling to the mast

Spend your whole life living in the past

Going nowhere fast

 

(Older person is trying to be a help again, is giving advise, but no directions)

 

And what are we drinking when we're done

Glasses of water

 

(Years passed… the person is older and wiser now too, he does know now what’s important in life)