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It was a ruby that she wore
On a chain around her neck
In the shape of a heart
In the shape of a heart
It was a time I won't forget
For the sorrow and regret
And the shape of a heart
And the shape of a heart
I guess I never knew
What she was talking about
I guess I never knew
What she was living without
People speak of love don't know what they're thinking of
Wait around for the one who fits just like a glove
Speak in terms of belief and belonging
Try to fit some name to their longing
There was a hole left in the wall
From some ancient fight
About the size of a fist
Or something thrown that had missed
And there were other holes as well
In the house where our nights fell
Far too many to repair
In the time that we were there
People speak of love don't know what they're thinking of
Reach out to each other though the push and shove
Speak in terms of a life and the learning
Try to think of a word for the burning
You keep it up
You try so hard
To keep a life from coming apart
And never know
What breaches and faults are concealed
In the shape of a heart
It was the ruby that she wore
On a stand beside the bed
In the hour before dawn
When I knew she was gone
And I held it in my hand
For a little while
And dropped it into the wall
Let it go, heard it fall
I... I guess I never knew
What she was talking about
I guess I never knew
What she was living without
People speak of love don't know what they're thinking of
Wait around for the one who fits just like a glove
Speak in terms of a life and the living
Try to find the word for forgiving
You keep it up
You try so hard
To keep a life from coming apart
And never know
The shallows and the unseen reefs
That are there from the start
In the shape of a heart
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Women are typically the ones in the relationship who let things build up and, sorry to say, men are quite difficult to deal with (especially young, untrained ones with lots of testosterone.) Very difficult being involved with a musician, I can attest to that one personally.
Also, mnen have a tough time with women who generally don't know how to handle a guy, and who take to nagging him. The gals will nag and complain, and escalate the conflict. Generally, even amidst the conflict, the man is oblivious. He isn't listening to what she's nagging about, because she's still there. Men understand action and logic, and nagging is neither of these. He generally believes that she just likes the drama of nagging and he doesn't, so it's a power struggle and he doesn't HEAR. Hear what she's missing. She generally doesn't properly communicate her needs in a proper way to give him an opportunity to meet those needs (if he's so inclined.) Sometimes, it was doomed from the start because, for example, you're not going to get a musician to give up music to make his life about you and not his guitar and crowds! Didn't think that thru from the start..those shallow waters and reefs were there from the start.
By the time that the man is really starting to get it, it's too late. It's like Natalie Portman's character in the movie, "Closer": "I don't love you anymore, GOOD BYE." (Jude Law asked her in the beginning if she ever left a man that she still loved and she said NO. Later, she did tell him that line and she did leave...after he dealt a blow to her face.)
Obviously, there was a physical altercation that Browne alludes to, perhaps just throwing an inanimate object:
"There was a hole left in the wall
From some ancient fight
About the size of a fist
Or something thrown that had missed.."
The fist and it's resultant "hole(s)" are a metaphor representing the escalating conflict and it's damaging layers in their hearts. The first hole could mean an actual altercation, but the other holes appear to be a metaphor for the damage done to the heart, not more physical holes in the home...rather the house is the relationship and the nights that were spent in conflict, not building true intimacy.
"And there were other holes as well
In the house where our nights fell
Far too many to repair.
In the time that we were there"
Who can't relate to the slow, eventual unraveling of a relationship. He gives the antedote later...
"Speak in terms of a life and the living
Try to find the word for FORGIVING..."
How can a couple get to the place of forgiveness and moving past the hurts. Generally, one of the two will move on to the elusive "one who fits them like a glove"...thinking the grass is greener.
He uses the necklace later in the song again as a metaphor...as is often the case in relationships, the man "gets it" once she's gone. He's left behind with all his feelings of pain but also of the knowledge of his love for her....the necklace that he can tangibly HOLD in his hand. He is realizing that she wasn't just bitching to bitch or nagging to nag. She is now gone, and it's all too apparent that he's feeling all these feelings so acutely. All he can do is throw up a defense by putting the knowledge and feelings of HER in that secret place of pain back where the point of conflict began...in that secret place deep down. The mind in its infinite wisdom will deal with pain by enveloping the pain and conflict with defenses and splinter that off and tend to dissociate from the core personality or conscious mind. You can't camp out there where it hurts...so you dissociate and move on. Maybe to that fairy tale one that will fit just like a glove...where there aren't the shallow waters and unseen reefs (but there always are).
"And I held it in my hand
For a little while
And dropped it into the wall
Let it go, heard it fall..."
It's a masterful use of the device of the metaphor. I agree that it's one of his best song lyrics! There's at least one performance (see youtube.com) where he looks like he really isn't doing so well while singing the song. You gotta love JB for always showing us his heart. He's one of the few performers that I can say that I feel that has affected my life all these decades just because he's shared his.
The story of this song is the third verse. But in order to clarify to the listener of the story of how a ruby necklace in the shape of a heart is being dropped into a hole in a wall he needs to describe the circumstances that lead up to this scene.
In the first verse (probably metaphoric), he plainly describes the ruby necklace in the shape of a heart that he gave to this girl that he loved. Apparently it must have been very beautiful and apparently she wore it a lot. She loved his gift. It was for him and her both a symbol of their love. It probably was a real necklace that JB purchased.
The second verse describes that they had a love-hate relationship. The holes are also both metaphorical and physical. In short this is the story behind the hole. It was a real hole in his house with so many holes in the walls that there were too many to fix. Just like there were too many holes in their relationship to fix.
Finally the third verse tells the true story. She left him and her dear John letter to him was the ruby necklace left on the stand beside his bed which verse 1 describes. Imagine yourself in his shoes. Waking up and finding that. You would pick the necklace up and sit on the side of the bed holding and looking at it and thinking about your dead relationship. We now also understand the significance of the hole he dropped the necklace in. "Hey man and there was this hole...."
How much truth is there in this story? I would like to know which house he lived in when he dropped the necklace down the hole in the wall. Is it still there? Did he go "f*ck!" and tear a hole in the wall and retrieve it? He He.
Also "and never know the shallows and the unseen reefs that are there from the start" besides being metaphorical also speaks of Jackson's experience as a surfer. JB is a surfer and he found in this relationship the same thing he learned from the experience of surfing. Finding shallows and reefs that were dangerous and invisible when you first surf a new area.
I used the word metaphor a lot. Almost ever word penned by Jackson Browne is a metaphor. He uses metaphors for metaphors. I wish I had a pinky nail worth of his writing ability.
"Wait around for the one who fits just like a glove"
But unfortunatly true love doesnt just come around when people wait for it, and instead they often end up finding love which is not completely real, instead, it is only
"In the shape of a heart"
..and this is what causes the holes in the walls...etc..
very powerful song though, and probably true for many relationships.
In the end, after she had gone - suicided, run away from her rescuer? - he drops the ruby into one of the holes - far too many to repair in the time we were there.
It's not about love, but tragedy. The love wasn't enough, it came too late, to save her. And yet, she had clung on to that hope.
his thoughts are conceived in the shape of a heart, he did it for love