Jim was a high school buddy who, at age 19, broke his neck by diving into a shallow lake.  He could move his arms and wrists, but not much else.  We both loved King Crimson back then, and this seemed like a decent way to express how he and everyone who knew him felt about his situation.  He remained paralyzed for twenty years until his mother rolled his top heavy van, killing him instantly.  He was the nicest guy and never complained about being paralyzed and all its attendant side effects like bed sores, bladder infections and some terrible thing called autonomic dysreflexia.