The song is written by Anna Goodman, Ben Folds' wife from 1987 – 1992. It appears to be about how difficult it is to stay positive in the face of overwhelming evidence. Alice Childress was a playwright born in Charleston South Carolina who moved to Harlem aged nine. Ben Folds is from North Carolina.
The first verse about “walk on down the hill, maybe buy a beer” refers to Los Angeles “my friends wouldn’t dig this town”