Dutch Courage by the Spill Canvas

In a previous post I quoted a line from the song "Dutch Courage".

" Paranoia is haunting you,
and all these dirty looks well they are right on cue.
Your full up to the brim with that he said, she said trash
You exist behind your keyboard and then your gone in a flash.

.

refrain:

Ten bucks says you don't have it in you
To conquer fear and quit believing what they tell you to
You are careening shamelessly into oblivion
Where you will live alone with your chemicals and gin.

.

I am utterly disgusted with the path you trek

As inebriated as you can get off your latest pay check

I am at a loss for words here

I hate to break this to you but being a coward is not a legitimate career

.

+refrain+

.

We were born and raised the same way so what gives you the right to say

At least I'm not a liar, At least I'm not a cheat

At least I don't care what these damn mindless people think of me"

-Spill Canvas

I really like the refrain of the song. It is a bet that the person its directed (lets call him Fred) at won't be able to face what he fears. It is also a challenge to Fred to straighten up. I think the speaker (lets call him Joe) is concerned for Fred. It seems like they used to be friends but Fred was discouraged by the harshness of the world, and has turned to drugs to drown out the pain. Joe is disgusted by Fred's method of coping and is blunt with him. I also get the impression that the Joe does cares about Fred though he is very critical of Fred's lifestyle. Though all of these words belong to Joe, I think that the line "We were born and raised the same way, so what gives you a right to say" belongs to Fred. This line is a protest to what Joe has been telling Fred. Fred is being defensive of his dependence on drugs and alcohol. I want to attatch the last two lines to Fred as well, but the last line wouldn't make sense with Joes oppinion that Fred needs to " quit believing what they tell [him] to"