This song is a lament for lost potential, "what could have been" -- especially the lost potential of the young generation who came of age during the Kennedy "Camelot" era to "change the world". Jfk and Jackie O are the king and queen spoken of in the third verse. For many who were young at that time, Kennedy represented hope for a nonviolent transition to a more just America, where everyone got their rightful "piece of the pie." With his death, many of these Kennedy-worshippers turned to their progressive rock idols for leadership, especially Dylan ('the jester"). Unfortunately, Dylan eschewed the role, and the mainstream of popular music (the Byrds, Beatles, and Stones) was overtaken by drug-induced hedonism and violence (the events of the summer of '69, Manson and Altamont are referenced in the fourth verse). This (sixties) generation has squandered itself in hedonistic excess, and has no more redemptive potential left. When it goes to the water, it finds it to be dry and the gloating symbols of the ancient regime -- the racist "good ol' boys" celebrating with a drink -- telling it is dead.

I believe that this song, which opens their most "commercial" album to date, is a declaration to their more cultish 'indie' fans. Let's start with two factors that don't appear in the lyrics, but set the tone for the whole song: the choir clapping and the opening guitar riff. Both refer to religious/cultish practices: clapping along obviously; the guitar riff is from George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" (hare krishna, hare, etc.). They are references to those who treat the band like a religious cult leader. "I'm not going back to rags or in the hole" refers to the (relative) poverty and obscurity of an indie band. The "our" in "our bruises" refers to the band collectively, who will "take their bruises" from fans (a la when Dylan went electric), but "will never fold," or give in to what their indie fan cult wants them to be. They are (somewhat sardonically) glad -- "Hooray hooray" -- that some obsessed fans found them to be the "silver lining" in the dark cloud of their otherwise unpleasant existence, but now they are (going for the) "gold" (record). I interpret "You were running through fields of hitchhikers" as follows: a hitchhiker is someone you pick up for a while and then drop (off) -- an observation on the behavior of this kind of fan, who is always searching for the newest "cool" unknown band. The last verse shows her mixed feelings of exhilaration ("ticking grass," "rising sun") and guilt ("I never felt so wicked") at this latest career move. Rk will not be wedded to any ideal of "indie purity" that the former fans who give "Blacklight" one star on Amazon want to tie them to. This interpretation makes it a somewhat churlish song -- but that is often the pose this band cops.