"S.A.D" follows a year in a city, season by season, and the title hints at seasonal affective disorder. Spring arrives for only a day or two, a green taste slipping through the diesel fumes, before routine smothers it and even birdsong fades into background noise. Summer's evening light tries and fails to brighten every long hour. Autumn brings a sigh and a melancholy glow, with the wind stripping the trees. Winter is the bleakest: snow looks gentle, like dove feathers, but the bleached sky is compared to white phosphorus and a war crime.
The speaker sounds weary and quietly angry. Beauty keeps appearing, but people are too distracted to hold onto it, and the changing light seems to unsettle their minds. The blunt swearing in the last lines drops the lyrical tone, as if the speaker has run out of patience. The mood is heavy, restless, and worn down.