Lyric Look - William Fitzsimmons "Everything Has Changed"

This is me just simply interpreting lyrics my own way, with the limited knowledge I have, and the experiences I care with me in my life. This is in no way a serious analytical breakdown and researched article.

I don't think William Fitzsimmons (I am going to refer to him as WF for the rest of this article. My fingers can't really type his name well...) is that big of an artists. He's like a therapist or something that happens to make music and let's it all kind of hang out in the open, mentally that is. All of his music kind of sits in this... emotional dude with a guitar type of indie vibe thing.

He has a lot of beautiful songs, and this one is no exception. I will likely break down a few of his lyrics, but today - "Everything Has Changed." I don't, and still don't have background on him, so I have no idea whether or not this is true, just a story, a half truth or whatever. Point being, it's a story. That much is clear when you listen to the song. It's very conversational, with a recurring theme that evolves with the story. Let's get into it.

Because it's a story driven song, there's not really a typical "verse chorus" type structure to the song. So each little section, I'll call "parts."

Today I saw my father standing in the graveyard
Looking very somber looking for his mom
When he finally found her he said that it was different
Everything is different nothing's really changed

So we get this setup here. The character is his father, in a graveyard looking for his mother, who we assumed passed away. He found her and noted that life was different... but the narrator notices that from his perspective, nothing is different.

At this point we don't really get here who the narrator is, but that contrast, it signifies something very personal, like how the perspectives of other are different, even in the face of loss.

My brother would remember sitting in the hallway
Waiting for my father both of us were scared
When the doorknob turned we took off for the stairway
Looking for some cover trying to get away

There's a fear here, which is strikingly different from the somber tone of the first section. It's clearly written from a child's perspective. There's a sense of their father being angry, inducing fear. At this point we're seeing two different versions of the father. What's inside and what's on the outside.

At this point, this part is much longer because all three of these next sections flow together into a single part. I think it's worth noting because it does affect how we read the lyrics in general. So let's break down the next three parts

A guide dog had to serve the role that you would not let
The mother of your children every really play
The office was a dungeon where you hid your fears of
What would really happen if no one ever came

I am not sure how to read the "guide dog" part, but by the note that he wouldn't let the mother play for her own kids, there's obviously some turmoil here. There's some issues in the household between the parents, and something is helping raise these children that aren't the mother.

Then he pairs the next two lines, where the father is full of some kind of fear or troubles, and he just spent a lot of time alone. He "hid his fears out" and "no one ever came" seems to indicate the father was likely really good at hiding pain and fear from others. I read this as if he put on a different face when others were over or he interacted with others. Clearly the children see past this.

What effect would that have on kids? I can only imagine that this doesn't feel good.

I wonder if you blamed yourself for when she left you
By closing up the garage door and turning on the car
Your father must have lost it your sister couldn't help you
But dad if you were lonely you had no where to turn

Wow. What happened here is clearly that the mom killed herself. My gosh, it's so direct and so surprising in the story. It's not sugar coated, it's just the straight story. This makes you wonder how much the previous lines played into this. In the song it passes so quickly, I have to assume here that it was intentionally delivered that way, to represent how fast it felt in real life.

The narrator however, despite what we saw in the previous parts, seems to connect and recognize that his father was in isolation. He was so used to hiding, being a different person for others, that he was unable to receive any kind of help. It feels really sad. That poor man.

Father can't you see the pieces that have fallen on the ground
When you and mom decided nothing could be saved inside this house

The first line feels like a plea from the kids. Help. Please help dad. The second line feels very... depressing. Not only that it feels like when you read that, it seems like the father might have went the same way she did.

The language used here is intense. "Decided" that they couldn't save anything. Also, that includes the kids. That's where it kind of hits harder. These folks were in such a bad mental place, that both of them took their own lives, despite having kids to live for. Even if the father didn't do it, he left or something. He just wasn't there and I think that's the point.

Then, he repeats "Everything Has Changed" a few times. Rightfully so. Dang.

Last night I had a dream that I was in the graveyard
Looking at my father buried in the ground
I'd swear that I could hear him tell me he was sorry
He told me he was sorry and everything has changed

It's a full circle from the very first part with his father and his father's mom. Now it's in a dream. And the thing that gives me chills is when he says he could hear his father say he's sorry. Too little, too late, but closure... the narrator/child found closure.

It's almost as if he broke the cycle. The first 4 lines kind of feel like the dad finding his mom... but it never mentions any kind of closure. It makes you wonder if the grief of his mom triggered all of this. The main character is the father, but clearly his whole life was full of sadness, and it ultimately destroyed him, his wife, and his kids lives.

It's a painful story of grief, loss, and childhood. Ultimately though, I think the child grows up and finds closure with his dad where his did could not... breaking the cycle of the damage his father had created.

One thing I really liked about the song was how every time he said "everything has changed" in the lyrics, it evolved. It started with it almost being meaningless, or just based on perspective, to then being life altering loss and struggle, to just being closure.

It's almost as if the song is trying to tell you that change is inevitable. It will always happen for any reason, whether visible or not.

Anyway, hope this was fun! Just me thinking probably too much into lyrics.