"I particularly like "do you have to be so cruel to be callous?" brilliant line about someone over-doing their insults. also good is "dogfight like rose and thistle." great reference to the history of bloodshed between the english and scottish. " (view)

"I think it's meant to subvert the standard 'lovers promise' style of song. don't think it's sarcastic, I just think it's meant to mislead you into believing this is some beautiful set of promises and intents on commitment then at the end it pulls the romance from under your feet..." (view)

"This is a song about the creative process, beating yourself up to create, how you have to plunge into the depths of self (where it's not always pretty) to bring real emotion & creativity to the top. "Express thyself! Express thyself! Say something! Say something!" is..." (view)

"I don't think is at all an attack on the left. for one, when he gets out he doesn't actually punish anyone for their mistake of letting him go, rather more complexity is added to his nature by digging up a long time victim of his and building a cage..." (view)

"I think the song is about divide between the establishment and the new youth scenes at the time. Desolation Row is not a paradise, it's like a sealed off street, but where stuff goes on, where all the miscreants live, who also include the poets and artists. The outside world peers..." (view)