Tight Wad Hill song meaning

Tight Wad Hill is a location in Crockett, CA where a certain circle of people would hang out to buy or sell drugs and get high. The hill is also close to John Swett High School on Pomona Street, so the kids on the hill were able to watch the school football games.

Now, that might sound like fun and it probably was fun at the moment, but the lyrics of this song show that the author's attitude towards the kind of activities that happened on Tight Wad Hill is now far from joy. Just like in most songs on Insomniac, his words are filled with sarcasm and bitter regret. "Begging for another fix", "hating every minute of his existence" - the descriptions of Tight Wad Hill occupants don't seem to be fun at all.

The song might also have a broader meaning - it might be expressing the author's regret and confusion about the kind of life he used to lead when he was younger. He sees now that it wasn't as much fun as it seemed. In fact, when you look at it, it is pathetic, takes away people's dignity and leads nowhere. The junkies can boast as much as they want about the pleasure that drugs bring - their lifestyle still arouses nothing but pity, because their lives aren't worth much - "living out a lie".