The song discusses the difficulty in everyday tasks when you can't read. The narrator resolves to try to learn to read.
Good friends help build self esteem and positive relationships reinforce self worth.
The alcoholic repeatedly seeks a solution in alcohol despite people trying to help. Ben Folds Five Brick is a narrative of a young couple who decide to have an abortion. In 1987, Dwyer reiterated his innocence at a press conference, reached into a manila envelope, pulled out a handgun, stuck it in his mouth and pulled the trigger killing himself on live television. The song discusses the universal nature of depression and encourages everyone to hold on for another day. They marry and the young man goes to work for the union.