Yeasayer- Tightrope

I just started listening to a bunch of Yeasayer, and I really am diggin' what they're putting down. I bought the Dark Was the Night album about a year ago, mostly because the artists on it were some of my favorites, but the fact that the proceeds went to benefit the Red Hot Organization and HIV/AIDS research/awareness helped justify my spending 15 bucks on a CD full of songs I had never heard before. 31 songs for 15 bucks ain't too shabby though, for those of you who may be interested in procuring a copy of your own. Or you can download it illegally if you prefer, who am I to judge? Those little kids in Africa, on the other hand...
Anyway, as I said, I didn't know any of the songs on the album, and I was unfamiliar with a few of the acts, Yeasayer included. I came across this song and really dug it from a purely musical standpoint. The vocals, electronics and percussion were pretty awesome, but I moved on fairly quickly to the rest of the album, and on to other albums, and so on and so forth.
One of the unfortunate side effects of the overabundance of digital music these days is that if you consume lots of it, as I tend to do, really inspirational, affective music can be overlooked rather quickly as you move on to the next new thing. Such was the case with this song, which popped up in my shuffle the other day. My new sober outlook and my vigorous approach to recovery has caused me to reanalyze my perspective on a lot of things, music in particular. I'm wary not to overplay this hand, however, as I know that if I relate EVERYTHING to sobriety, I will lose the interest of those who perhaps cannot identify as strongly with my struggle. It's fortunate then, that this song happens to rock, and can be enjoyed for any number of reasons.
I can identify very strongly with the sentiment expressed in the lyrics regarding embarrassing behavior and actions. I used to think that I lived without regrets, chalking most setbacks up to experience and categorizing them as "learning opportunities," which only really works if you actually learn something, which was not often the case for me. I now realize that I actually have a plethora of regrets, which currently give me motivation to pursue gradual change on a daily basis.
Additionally, I now know that in regards to my addiction, self-will is useless in preventing me from continuing along my path of destruction. I have to solicit the help of others, the program and my Higher Power if the desire to achieve anything positive and lasting is to be realized.
I have no idea if this interpretation was even remotely intended by whichever member of the band wrote the song/lyrics, but that is the beauty of art in all its forms. As an artist, you can try and direct thoughts and emotional reactions to it, or you can leave it open to interpretation. Some of you might take drastically different things away from the song. Some of you may take nothing away from the song except that it is musically very pleasing. Others may think that it sucks and that I'm a douche-bag for reading into it at all, or for liking it. Whatever the case may be, take a chance and give it a listen. If you like it, check out some other songs by Yeasayer, including Ambling Alp, other one of my recent favorites. All Hour Cymbals is a pretty solid album as well, and their new album Odd Blood drops today. Knock yourselves out with all 'a that.