This song means so much to me, and it's for so many reasons.
As I child I would listen to this song all the time, and it would make me think of all the good times. Something about that mandolin really touched me. In my opinion, it was my favourite song of my childhood- I would smile whenever I heard it on the radio, recorded the song on a cassette. I did everything just to hear it.

Little did I know that in a few years time, it would be the song I could not listen to any more.
When I turned 17, I witnessed my younger brother going through a a very complicated state of mind. He had, some sort of a combination of bipolar, schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder. It made him so different to what he was as a child. It pains me to say this, but my brother actually became, someone I hated. He would ruin everyday with his awful personality - fighting to himself, screaming at my mother and father. In many ways, he was unwell.

Now whenever I hear that song, I could never listen to it the whole way through. The lyrics can only relate to one thing- my brother. Listening to unwell now just breaks me to tears. That mandolin which I loved as a child only brings nothing but awful memories of that past. Isn't it amazing what music, or just a single song, can do?

To the meaning of this song, I believe it could be interpretated as anything to anyone. One might think it might talk of somebody who feels isolated and just wants understanding. But to me, this song touches a very sensitive topic- one more sensitive and harder to go through then death. That's mental illness.

And to sum it up, mental illness is something that should never be ignored.
We got help for our brother, and now he is doing better than we thought he would.
Once you see the signs, never leave it to the last minute. Because, I'm telling you. It leaves scars.