Astoria is the town from the 1985 movie Goonies. In the film, a bunch of kids find a treasure map and set out to find the booty. Hijinks ensue as a group of criminals join the search. The line, "This is my wish and I'm taking it back, I'm taking 'em all back" is from the movie.
Lead singer Kris Roe used childhood memories as inspiration: "I'd take all these Polaroids of where I grew up. I went back and stole back these memories that were once mine by taking all these Polaroids. At this point in my life and career, I can't very well go back to the house where I used to live and say to the people that live there now, 'Can I sit in my old bedroom?' But I could take photographs in the window. I tried to do anything I could to make this record more vivid and detailed, even going to stalker limits." (thanks, Sarah - York, ME, for above 2)
Kris Roe wrote this song when he was in his home town. He started taking pictures of places that had been important to him throughout his life (pictures that we see both in the music video and in the CD artwork). Taking these pictures, he started to build up his life in his mind and remembered all these things that had changed, how certain things were less or more serious to him and how he missed all those things that cannot do now that he's an adult - "Lighting fireworks in parking lots," doing all those 'young things' that were so much fun, when he had less to worry about and had time to do stupid little things. (thanks, Carlos - Mexico City, Mexico)
