The Start of Something

No offense, but I think you people are way off base here. This is my interpretation:

A guy (the narrator) was infatuated with a woman (Marianne?), presumably his ex-girlfriend. When they were dating, he could call her up at "this time of night" and there wouldn't be anything wrong with it, but when they had first separated and she wanted nothing to do with him, she would curse at him when he called her at that hour. Still, her angry words ("gutter prose") couldn't dissuade him from loving her... when he says he would "break common laws in twos and threes", he probably means he would go to her house after hanging the phone up and cause a ruckus on her front steps, bang on windows, shouting to her from her front lawn, waking up all her neighbors ("I'm sorry everybody knows") etc... anything to get her attention. Bear in mind, that was all immediately after they had broken up. Now, some time later, he is still in love with her and still watches home videoes of the "good times" reminiscing on the days when they were together ("When I could feel your heart"). He wishes that she would come visit him, and even promises that, if she DID, he wouldn't gush over her and tell her how much he still wants to be with her, unless of course that's what she wants ("Come by and see me... I'd break your name before I'd say 'I really love you'). Instead of sending a love-letter ("I'm just a love-letter away"), however, she sends him a letter telling him that she's getting married and even describes how massive/luxurious the ring is ("the ring it nearly weighs her down"), almost as if she was rubbing it in his face. She goes on to say that poetry, the only thing the narrator has ever given her, is NOT a luxury. It IS, however, how he intends to break up her marriage, by writing her love poems that he hopes will remind her how happy they were together. As if to evoke sympathy from her, he asks "When I'm really ill, will you cradle me?"; a question which is answered later in the song. With the third verse, we get a better understanding of why she left him in the first place. He was apparently over-protective and possessive ("eager to shut [her] eyes" to the world outside of their relationship), and she felt trapped. Plus, there's a good probability that he cheated on her ("man is not a noble animal" and possibly what he meant when he described breaking "common laws in twos and threes").

The Break-Up Scene (aka verses 5 and 6) The narrator is apparently at her house when she breaks up with him. When she says "You never really live until your back's against the wall", she means that nobody ever makes life-changing decisions, voluntarily leaving their comfort zone, unless it is absolutely necessary, i.e. no longer comforting. That was her reason for breaking up with him. He, on the other hand, would have been perfectly happy continuing with things as they were, unhappy as they were (his "scarred" reflection is, I believe, a metaphor for the unhappiness and sense of rejection he feels when she breaks up with him). At that, she says "I think its time [for you] to go home now". Before he leaves, however, he asks "Tell me your thoughts on liberty (i.e. the single life). I think it seems pretty boring" (that's a place where I sink to sleeping"). To this question, she replies "My vote is as red as my blood", meaning she's liberal, open to the idea that the single life might be nice/exciting. It would be a nice break from his possessive ways. Trying to eke out just a few more minutes with her, he asks if she will join him for another round and give him time to share his thoughts on their relationship, but she's not interested and kicks him out of her house ("Godspeed", aka goodbye).

I'm a little unsure about the first two lines in the last verse. I believe that when he says "This just makes me ill, your name is dripping from my pen, still you're not around to curse", he is lamenting the fact that he can't seem to forget her, whereas she has clearly moved on, which is even more frustrating because he can't even curse at her for making him feel so miserable. In his despaeation, he picks up a gun and contemplates killing himself, but remembers her words... "Only when you feel like you have no other options do you truly live" ("you never really live until your back's against the wall"). If she really meant those words, then this point in the narrator's life just might mark the start of something beautiful (LIFE ITSELF in its truest form), despite the fact that it may not seem like he is getting what he wants. In the end, he accepts the fact that the relationship is unsalvagable and that he can't do anything to make her love him again. He even admits, albeit indirectly, that he WAS over-possessive... recall that, in the beginning he said he didn't care if she thinks he's eager to shut her eyes, almost as if he were denying that it were true. In that context, it was "shut your eyes and let me guide you into the future (i.e. dictate your life for you) Yet, here, at the end, he says "shut your eyes and burn the past", as if to say "shut your eyes and forget about me.

Thoughts???

So Morrissey-esque, it hurts. But it's like a good pain.

this song is about him being in love with a woman who is married to another man "Break common laws in twos and threes" "Wrapped up and disguised As something really really ugly?" "Poetry is not a luxury, it's how I break this home" this means he is using this song to take her from her husband therby breaking the home. "Just shut your eyes and burn the past away" this is him trying to get her to go to actualy fall asleep with him thereby getting her caught and ending the relationship with her husband "burning the past" this is one of the most amazing songs I have ever heard.

When I first heard this song before reading the lyrics I thought it was about a man's relationship with a underage girl. I heard: "Say, you're not allowed to curse" instead of "still, you're not around to curse". I also thought "Break common laws in twos and threes" was about age of consent. Now I think it's about an adultery law. I think it's about a man who may/ may not have gone out with a woman and now he wants her back but she's married. Hence the: "The ring, it nearly weighs her down She's got another boy, oh boy". Maybe at the start of the song their relationship was just beginning, like when he sings: "Or just the start of something really, really beautiful Wrapped up and disguised As something really really ugly?". Then the second verse may be them on a date, "I watched every inch of film flash across your roman features and I loved it, loved it". Third and fourth verse they may have gotten into an argument: "Well, I'm sorry everybody knows you can't break me With your gutter prose" Maybe the woman is trying to make him feel guilty or shitty about what they're doing. Also, "Would you believe it? She sent me a letter The ring, it nearly weighs her down She's got another boy, oh boy" maybe is trying make him feel like shit again by saying "I have a guy that can give me things you could never afford". "And when I'm really ill, won't you cradle me?" I believe is expressing the narrator's doubt in her faith/loyalty to him. Fourth verse is saying they got over the fight, but they realize what they are doing is morally wrong. Fifth verse is asking about her thoughts on freedom, maybe over a drink (Oh, tell me your thoughts tell me your thoughts on liberty/Will you join me for another round?) Next verse is going back to adultery (I break the law once every week to feel your touch). I think he's saying he's done a lot for the relationship too. "This just makes me ill/ Your name is dripping from my pen" I think is the point where the relationship ends, it makes him sad, and he still wants to write to her. "I'll drop the gun now" may be his remorse for "killing" her marriage, and "I'm still under you" may mean his acknowledgment that he feels below her. And the final verse: "Marianne, let the ghosts sleep tonight Marianne, let the ghosts sleep Just shut your eyes, burn the past" may be just him trying to let her forget what happened, to "burn" away what happened.

I don't know, that's just my take on it. :]

Fun fact: While you guys think you're all deep and shit which im not saying you aren't but in Shakespeare's time the term "to die" meant to die, but more appropriately to have an orgasm. "If I die clutching your photograph..." He's jacking off to her guys sorry to bring the romance to a crude level of fluids. So when you here die in your arms and the like think of having sex while holding one another etc

-ktrai

I love this song so much. Poetic, simple, uplifting. It's my Myspace song.

Great song!

This song's amazing. Completely love it!

This song is beautiful. I love the part where he says "God speed..."

This song is beautiful. About a relationship, of course, but that doesn't change anything about it.

Also. I'm pretty sure it's "Come by and see me I'm a love letter away." rather than "Come by and see my I'm a love letter away."