I agree and disagree with all of you. Yes, this song is about life, but how life is an obstacle. All of the people depicted in the lyrics are those that had a dream at some point and although that dream is still very present in their mind, life has become an obstacle for them. The song is not about people giving up on their dreams, it is about the inability of a person to follow through with their dreams because of other more important responsibilities. "Jenny" for instance, wanted her child to live a normal life but that is an impossibility because of the circumstances, a child bore to a 14 year old mother will never live a normal life. "John" on the other hand was a top notch actor but after rejection after rejection he turned to drugs, as it would seem, and these prevented him from realizing the opportunities in front of him. Finally "Mary" she always wanted to change the world and still sets out to do it, but her family is more important than her own dreams so she stays put to be there for her husband and kids, its not that she has given up on her dreams its just that she can't accomplish them during this era of her life.