Counting Crows - Perfect Blue Buildings - Lyrics Meaning

The song was released on the album August and Everything After in 1993. The lead singer, Adam Duritz, has stated that the song is about depression and coping with a very mundane and pointless existence. The "perfect blue buildings" in the song are in reference to the cookie-cutter look of American suburbs. Duritz has broken up with his girlfriend and he is depressed by this loss. He questions what it all means and wonders if he too will be one of those people toiling away at an unfulfilling job to support a bland, uninspired life. The depression has made him an insomniac and he needs " a little oblivion" which in this case is some form of medication or drug to "keep myself away from me". This last line of the chorus refers to his mind continuously lamenting the failed relationship and that he is unable to stop thinking about it.

The fourth verse is in reference to the phrase, "skeletons in the closet" which refers to secrets from the past that someone may be less than willing to discuss. Duritz says that he has these skeletons as well and that there is only so long that you can hide them. They will eventually have to surface. This is his way of explaining his responsibility for the break-up. The song ends with Duritz repeating the refrain, "How am I gonna keep myself away from me" but with a new meaning. Now it is about him trying to get out of his own way. His personality and the "skeletons in his closet" are keeping him from finding love. He is afraid that he will fall into an emotionless life of banality.