for some reason, i got the idea that this song was about resisting the temptation of lust in order to remain pure.


"I could have sworn that I saw you knee-bent..."
the singer comments on how he saw his gf praying, but now she wants to have sex.

"I've got to crucify myself..."if he wants to believe what she is saying about it being ok to do it, he'd have to crucify himself (aka, repent of his sin). He has to obey all the promises he made when he became a Christian.

"I've got to make my bed..."
he says that he has to make his bed (get married) if he's gonna lay with her (have sex). because a disaster is a disaster no matter how you spin the act of sex.


"Cause I confide in wolves at night..."
the "wolves" that he confides in are the falsefaced temptations of earthy pleasures. in order to resist them, he must make his baby girl lonely.




well that's what i thought.

Yeah, I definitely agree with sictransit...well said.

Yeah, I agree too - though I didn't completely understand their interpretation of the: "cause I confide in wolves at night" part.

:]

Yeah, I agree too - though I didn't completely understand their interpretation of the: "cause I confide in wolves at night" part.

:]

i came to understand this song after talking to a friend. she told me of her interpretation of the title of the CD: "i'm like a virgin losing a child". it could be taken as a father speaking of their unborn child being aborted, hence losing a child and yet being a "virgin" in the sense that he never "had" the baby.

if you look at the rest of that song with that information on the back of your head it makes a lot of sense.


the "knee-bent" thing would be his girlfriend praying to god, and perhaps asking for forgiveness. the arms stretched out part mentioning growth could be her remorse, or the potential the unborn baby wouldve had. the "reasons too long" part is about how he knows her well and knows the million reasons she could justify getting an abortion.

wolves are symbolism for spiritual guides, so basically he speaks/confides to "spirits" at night (it's up to you to choose if he's talking about god or a spiritual guide and interpret it your way). the baby girl is obviously the unborn baby.

"I've got to crucify myself if I am gonna believe you
I've got to promise that I'll finish all the things I said I'd do to begin with too
I've got to make my bed if I am gonna lay with you
'Cause a disaster's a disaster, no matter what Christian language you drag it through"
that whole bit is about him being a "partner in crime" or part of that sin. the crucifying part is him saying he should be condemned if he buys into her excuses, and the other part is about him seeing abortion as 'the easy way out' instead of finishing what they began and owing up to their mistakes. the disaster part is the premarital sex (it could be excempted if theyre married, but we dont know that) and then the abortion.

"I swear I did what I could for your rights,
You swear you did what you could for my eyes
And I'll try nothing, try something, try anything"
he tried to talk her out of it, but she tried to justify it and perhaps do it alone as to shield him from it. the nothing, something, anything is the struggle he faces because obviously he wants to save the baby but he cant physically force her to keep it, and has tried his best to do what's right.


(by the way i'm in no way trying to take a stand on abortion. it's simply what i think the song is about and doesnt necessarily reflect my beliefs.)

I always figured that "I saw your knee-bent on the bedside" was a tossback to their album art, which is a Polaroid that they found at a lady's house that they stayed at once on tour, it's of her on her wedding night.

I believe this song is talking about how they are engaged or married and she cheated on him on their wedding night or a night before they had sex the disaster is that she is pregnant.

Obviously, she is praying in the beginning hoping that time will get longer, meaning that it will get slower so she doesnt have to face the day that shes gonna get an abortion. When he talks about her arms and legs growing hes talking about her getting closer to god so she can be forgiven,

Wolves at night are basically the people that ratter on her that were probably there and conviced her to do it and hes looking for her because he lost her at the party or something.

Yeah he has to believe her, he promised to start a life with her, like when he married her he made the vows and keep them, hes got to make the bed because he still wants to have sex with her.

He's a virgin losing a child because he didnt have sex with her but hes losing a child that couldve been his.

I swear i did what i could for your rights, was he didnt want her to do it but he had to hold back and do what she wanted.
You swear you did what you could for my eyes, and that was to not see the abortion or maybe like not want him to see the child so he doesnt have to go through the pain that its not his.

Ill try something, because he wouldve done anything for her,
Ill try nothing, because he was still mad and he didnt want to do do anything with her.
Ill try anything, well put together all he says is that hes confused.

I think everyone is missing something... "I'm like a version losing a child" is a reference to Mary, and how she lost christ, and how lonely she must have felt. I think loneliness is the key part to the entire metaphor and a lot of the album. Another theme throughout the album is constant references to sight, seeing, vision and seeing what you believe. He hasn't seen his baby, she is gone, he is alone and so is she.... Mary must have felt this alone when Jesus was crucified....
Wolves = possibly temptation??

ugabsktball, the album art isnt a poloroid they found at a lady's house on tour.my brother is the drummer and he found a whole picture album of a guy's life in a thrift store a long time ago.all the pictures in the album are ones from this album.but it is her honey moon night.

i agree with McLean420

yeah bedmond that's right, my bad. i had heard the wrong thing.

I've taken a slightly different slant with my interpretation. I think the narrator with one of his friends about problems that he's having in a relationship and this friend takes advantage of this girl's lonliness and sleeps with her. Thus his "confiding in wolves." The friends he trusted enough with his problems are the wolves.

When I hear "I'm like a virgin losing a child," I think of adoption. A parent whose child isn't really theirs, and thus a "virgin." To lose that child would still be very tragic, but the kid was never really theirs exactly. I think maybe the narrator is saying that he never really thought the relationship was very genuine but he's still sad that it's over.

I've taken a slightly different slant with my interpretation. I think the narrator with one of his friends about problems that he's having in a relationship and this friend takes advantage of this girl's lonliness and sleeps with her. Thus his "confiding in wolves." The friends he trusted enough with his problems are the wolves.

When I hear "I'm like a virgin losing a child," I think of adoption. A parent whose child isn't really theirs, and thus a "virgin." To lose that child would still be very tragic, but the kid was never really theirs exactly. I think maybe the narrator is saying that he never really thought the relationship was very genuine but he's still sad that it's over.

i know they are christian and i don't know how i would work this into an explanation of the song but i feel like he's the bad guy in this song.

lines like "no matter what Christian language you drag it through" make its sound like hes is mocking her for trying to defend herself with religion.

and when he says "I've got to crucify myself if I am gonna believe you" it seems like maybe hes using the word crucify to put what he's saying in terms she can understand (perhaps mocking again)

the "I swear I did what I could for your rights,
You swear you did what you could for my eyes" could be that hes looking at it (abortion?) from a law stand point (abortion is legal) where as she is trying to OPEN his eyes to god and christian beliefs (prolife).

saying "i confide in wolves at night" just further establishes him as the sinner.

I believe that the line "I'm like a virgin losing a child" is a beautiful piece of imagery relating to loneliness.

If you think about it, losing a child is the worst thing that can happen to a mother, and a virgin has never had that closeness with another person- so its sort of like double loneliness? This person has never had the love of a man or of a child.

Also the line about Christian language must be a political statement...perhaps about the war in Iraq..no matter how they harp on about God and "helping" people its a disaster?

i saw it more as the first part he's remembering himself how he used to put all his faith in God. but confiding in wolves = talking to people who'd take him away from that belief. and now to believe in Jesus he'd have to "crucify himself", like he can't believe it without seeing it first, or he couldn't just accept somebody else taking away his sin and guilt. a disaster's a disaster no matter what Christian language you drag it through - like he's thinking there's so much fucked up stuff about Christianity, no matter how prettily it's worded. Then the virgin losing a child metaphor is, as someone else said, about Mary losing Jesus. because Andy was raised Christian, even if he's realised he doesn't actually believe in Christ that's still his whole life where he's had this relagtionship with God so now realising he doesn't exist is like he's losing a friend or a father or, dun dun dun, a child.

and no, i don't think there's any possibility the virgin losing a child metaphor isn't exactly as McLean put it - a reference to Mary and Christ. with the kindof intense Christian upbringing Andy has, you don't think of references to virgins and crucifixitions in any other way.

leolizzard I completely agree

I THINK I GOT IT (haha...maybe)!

So here it goes (it's long - I summarize at the bottom - so scroll if you are lazy).

Anyways...I don't believe it involves a specific conversation with a girl but more with "the girl" in the photo. It relates to a specific set of social issues...it easily could be more metaphoric than we think. It definitely involves issues of society, Christianity, sexuality, and crisis (Foucault would have liked this). It pretty much talks about the "photo" on the cover and takes the romance out of it.

as follows:

"I could have sworn that I saw you knee-bent on the bedside,
Arms stretched like a kite that time will eventually grow.
I'm so sure of it
And I've got a reason, too long, for songs
That tells why your legs and arms are actually able."

-Simple Christian paragraph (probably) in reference to the photo...He's identifying with it, describing it, and then expressing a counter narrative to her prayer (as he also has a reason for why "her legs and arms are actually able", expressing a creationist perspective conflict on conservative christianity). Stay with me here (it comes to fruition).

Then...

"'Cause I confide in wolves at night
Have you seen my baby girl, she's lonely."

-Our hook...Wolves at night could be something like spirits/lonelyness/emptiness...but it also could represent where the wolves are...'the wilderness' and the 'baby girl' could represent his faith or even better...the photo of the lady about to lose her v card and struggling with her subservient lot in life - possibly a bitter disgusted perspective upon how she felt as her her husband was taking a photo of her before he popped it (sorry for the crudeness...lol).

"I've got to crucify myself if I am gonna believe you
I've got to promise that I'll finish all the things I said I'd do to begin with too
I've got to make my bed if I am gonna lay with you
'Cause a disaster's a disaster, no matter what Christian language you drag it through"

Easy parallel reference to the first paragraph...it just builds. Instead of praying - it talks about the prayer. The lady is about to lose her virginity (the artist may have wanted to express the counter romantic intent here - as losing her virginity is: as a sacrificial, faith based, submissive act ("crucifixion", "doing the right things" and "bed making" - likewise); yet...she's still gonna lose something precious to her (as she's in her wilderness), which makes it a disaster that she is still unsure of. Side note - from (some hard) experience I'd agree with this line "a disaster is a disaster no matter what christian language you drag it through."


"'Cause I confide in wolves at night
Well have you seen my baby girl,
She's lonely, so lonely
'Cause I can find in wolves at night
I'm like a virgin losing a child,
So lonely, so lonely"

-Further emphasizing the oppressed lady in the photo. Virgin losing child could also represent an ensuing pregnancy and duty to bear children -into her subservient child (notice the feminine emphasis throughout...he doesn't say baby boy, it's gonna be/or was - a girl). (Sweet chorus because it fits so well in the story)

I swear I did what I could for your rights,
You swear you did what you could for my eyes
And I'll try nothing, try something, try anything
I swear I did what I could for your rights,
You swear you did what you could for my eyes
And I'll try something, for nothing, for something.
Something
I swear I did what I could for your rights,
You swear you did what you could for my eyes
And I'll try something, try nothing, try anything.

-Through a feminist lens we see the author interact with the picture. He swears he "did what he could for her rights" (to not be a subservient sex) and she'll swear "she did what she could for his eyes." It could be direct: being covered in the photo as she was about to lose her virginity; or it could be showing how trapped she is in her patriarchal undertakings as he tries to help her and she tries to shield him.

Summary (repeated) (sorry it seems so long): -

Dude finds photo; is disgusted by the notion of a hubby taking a photo to remember the time he powerfully took her virginity; believes that the oppression of this woman is very unromantic; relates it to his own struggles with trying to help her, her loss, her life, her baby, her wilderness; makes interactions with the photo and comments on her subservient Christian perspective (not necessarily Christianity) and social issues that he has with the photo.

i think "i'm like a virgin losing a child" is kind of literal, but i could be wrong. i took it as a girl who somehow got pregnant, but had a miscarriage, and because she was a "virgin", there was no father, no one to lean on when she had to go through it all. or even though she got pregnant and was obviously having sex, she still claimed to be a virgin, maybe because of her family or religion?

I see the "I'm like a virgin losing a child" as someone pure or innocent or good (the virgin) who loses something before they could rightfully have it (the child)