At its core, this song is pretty simple: nature good, human bad when human kill animal.
It gets more complicated when we look more closely: in each of the three ‘scenes,’ the speaker has some sort of connection with the suffering or dying animal and each time, instead of coming to some sort of kumb...
[Verse 1]
Little insect upside down and trying
To right-side-up itself, felt by my right foot tapping
Squirming mechanism and it spins and tips vertical
But in my alien eye I can see he is beautiful
[Chorus]
Well, I love my neighbor
I love his determined behavior
If it were me I probably
Might have just stayed there
[Verse 2]
Mid-sized opossum in front of my house dying
Collided with a vehicle driving it out through the lightning
She falls down softly in the middle of the lane incoming
And it's clearly incumbent on me to run out to her and do something
So I approach her there and I'm suddenly squirming
And I'm scared and I'm tryin' to do right but I guess I desecrate everything
[Chorus]
Well, I love my neighbor
I loved her courageous behavior
A ray now shines out of her mouth
And it points back to nature
[Verse 3]
Morning gosling echoing wide around me
A V migrating down easy to a better climate
A startling shot rings out and now the geese are all screaming
The marksman’s adrenaline's up as he stands up smiling
[Chorus]
Well, I love my neighbor but
Don't understand his behavior
I love that bird
But I don't ever want to take her
Neighbor was written by Evan Stephens Hall.
Neighbor was produced by Evan Stephens Hall & Sam Skinner.