He’s saying with things like fake money, and other strifes, he has reason to be a skeptic. Paul Thompson, also a skeptic and artist who has made songs all the way up to Curtains, pt 4. already, will still be writing “pt. 33” as these problems occur. Meaning, the troubles aren’t gonna go away any time soon

The title of his album, “How to Make it in America,” may not be suitable because maybe he isn’t trying to make it in america. America is a nation that he says stands for symbols, such as the statue of liberty and the liberty bell, that people don’t respect or believe in.

He goes as far as calling America “a hell we tried escaping,” referring to America’s past time with things such as slavery that we tried to break out from, but still see residual effects today.

The only real way of avoiding the troubles in America is to embrace complacency, and succumb to them

He wants to take the sun’s light to LITERALLY reflect on the places he’s been and things that he’s done, as well as to “catalyze” some sort of effort towards growth.

What he sees as the futuristic way to deal with sadness; the ability to switch brain chemistries. He’s also saying, such an act would drain the life from his face, and change who he was. At the end of the second bar he calls for “capital one”, whom makes a stance against replaced identities for credit card fraud.

He’s going to need help to get where he needs to get, which in this case he foresees will be back home. “300 miles from the civilization” refers to the distance from Fargo/Moorhead (where he is at for school) and Eagan (where he grew up, and what he considers “civilization”).

This verse begins his talk of his “future” and the social network he expects in it.

He’s “codependent to an old dimension” with the old dimension referring to the present. He’s admitting he still relies on it, and that the future he expects won’t be totally separate from the present he’s living.

So many people care about the status they receive from hanging out with whatever group of friends they do, that they forget about what’s important to them; their “niche.” But Jack’s saying, they better figure their shit out soon because life can change in the blink of an eye

To follow up the preceding line, he knows he’s made poor decisions as well. However, he “influences” those poor decisions by turning them into a positive NEW outlook on life.

To anyone who follows @JacksonYAK on twitter, his bio says “it’s a cold world, but I’m dressed for it”. Kind of a saying to live by, for him. Jack is from Minnesota, so he’s saying he’s used to the cold, and prepared for anything that goes wrong. He’s also following up that line by saying he’s still humble (contrary to what the previous lines in the verse may of stated), but when people tell him he’s the best, or their favorite, he will go along with it and build a bit of an ego

This is jack admitting his pessimism and cynicism for the world, saying that people will hurt you so “strap your vests,” as in bullet-proof vests that can block out the way people hurt you,, and protect your necks (from the noose) and your wrists (from self-inflicted pain). Not meant to be an emo line, but in hindsight it was, lol