This song is about Elliott moving out from his mother’s house to get away from his stepfather. Verse 3 are letters. The first from his mother to him, followed by a response from him to her. Then they both acknowledge that even though their lives are now on separate paths they will always love each other.

The line “Dead china doll” might have been inspired by The Grateful Dead – China Doll.

“Strung out and thin” is an excellent double entendre so subtle that it’s quite easy to miss.

It refers both to the abject physical state caused by addiction: (1) the constant need for a fix and the thinness, and (2) the haystack charm of the previous line, which is literally “strung out” around the neck and could be “thin”, as necklace charms often are.

“Calling some friend, trying to cash some check” sketches a typical scene in the life of a drug addict: scrounging for money for more drugs. In this case, the friend is being called because the check in question probably belongs to them, and they must endorse it and be present in order to cash it.

Or, perhaps more likely, the friend has hid the addict’s check to protect the addict from using it to buy drugs (hence “he’s playing dumb”), as would be consistent with the suggested narrative of one actor opposing the other’s addiction made apparent in lines “You say you know what he did” (accusatory), “sometimes they just get caught in the eye you’re pulling him through” (helpless to aid), and the addict’s defensive internal monologue “leave me alone… you ought to be proud I’m getting good marks”.

Since the previous lines may be a reference to The Velvet Underground’s Run Run Run, these lines may be a reference to I’m Waiting For The Man, another Heroin related track on the same TVU album.

Reminiscent of Velvet Underground’s “Run Run Run.” TVU were one of the first bands to openly refer to heroin like Smith is here

Its a metaphor. If you have lost everything and have no where to go then where might you end up? “Underneath a Bridge”

Maybe the only thing between you and the elements is a ragged tarp.

That tarp, being a metaphor for the psychological state he was in starts to leak. His last option has reached it’s breaking point, soon there will be nothing left.

this song may only be a paragraph but its really a lot deeper than people will ever truly know.

‘Trap Sprung a Leak’ may be a reference to release/expression of his thoughts which he used to keep within his mind (as he had a bit withdrawn personality) .

‘Animals I trapped’ may be referring to his wild/bewildering thoughts which he used to trap in his mind.

So it all may be happened while he was sitting under a bridge or at some quite place – where he decided to express himself to the world.

“Have all become my pets” may refer to his control over his thoughts – that he can now control his wildering thoughts which he decided to express to the world which he kept within himself.