To me , the song
is always about the boy.
Maybe you could meet someone
and he could be my Dad,
and we could live together
like the family we once had
Is it perhaps the last line that's not quite right, because it assumes there was once a family but in fact, that is what the boy has never had? Maybe his father was just another guy who took advantage of his mothers weakness and that's why he doesn't want you, or any other man to 'help' his mother. He's probably seen that end badly too many times already.
To me, that verse is the boy's frustration, in that he senses his mother will never meet a strong and honest guy, until she sobers up, but she can't do that without the help of such a guy. Catch 22.
Either way, great song.
