Songfacts®:

• Jesse Lacey wrote this song after an extended period of excessive touring without rest. He and his band mates were growing tired of their schedule, and were becoming very home sick.
• Lyric Analysis:
  
  "I need the smell of summer, I need its noises in my ears." - He had missed the opportunity of enjoying summer because of their touring, and now it has passed by.
  
  "Please know we do this because we care, not for the thrill." - They are doing these tours because they want to reach out to people with their music, not because they want to be away from their home.
  
  "I've realized that everyone who lives will someday die and die alone" - This is a very morbid line saying he is lonely, and with this work they are doing, he sees himself being alone forever. This is reinforced by the chorus: "And we won't let you in," meaning they will not allow anyone to become close with them.
  
  "I've wrote more postcards then hooks, I've read more maps then books, I feel like every chance to leave is another chance I should have took." - He has written so many letters to home, perhaps more letters then songs, he has not had any time for things such as books, because he is on the road, and he feels like he should have taken any chances that had been offered for the touring to stop, but he didn't.
  
  "My secrets for a buck, Watch me as I cut myself wide open on this stage, Yes, I am paid to spill my guts" - His songs are his deepest secrets, and he is paid to write and sing and be seen on stage.
  
  "Oh, I would kill for the Atlantic" - Jesse Lacey is from Long Island, New York (an island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean).
  
  "I am paid to make girls panic while I sing" - This expresses the absurdity of the many overexcited, screaming girls who attend his shows. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Samantha - Someplace, NY, for above 2