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He was so kind, such a gentleman tied to the oceanside
Lighting a match on the suitcase's latch in the fading of night
Ruffle the fur of the collie 'neath the table
Ran out the door through the dark
Carved out his initials in the bark
Then the Earth shook, that was all that it took for the dream to break
All the loose ends would surround me again, in the shape of your face
What makes me love you despite the reservations?
What do I see in your eyes?
Besides my reflection hanging high?
Are you off somewhere reciting incantations?
"Sim Sala Bim!" on your tongue?
Carving off the hair of someone's young?
Remember when you had me cut your hair?
Call me 'Delilah' then, I wouldn't care
Lighting a match on the suitcase's latch in the fading of night
Ruffle the fur of the collie 'neath the table
Ran out the door through the dark
Carved out his initials in the bark
Then the Earth shook, that was all that it took for the dream to break
All the loose ends would surround me again, in the shape of your face
What makes me love you despite the reservations?
What do I see in your eyes?
Besides my reflection hanging high?
Are you off somewhere reciting incantations?
"Sim Sala Bim!" on your tongue?
Carving off the hair of someone's young?
Remember when you had me cut your hair?
Call me 'Delilah' then, I wouldn't care
Lyrics submitted by casiopt10
Track duration: 03:14
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It's an ego thing. Being with this (attractive/hard to get) woman made him feel good about himself (in her eyes he sees his reflection hanging high, e.g. he's a badass for having this woman's attentions), but besides that, what else does he see in her? Why is he so stuck on her?
Husband leaves because he feels suffocated in his marriage. When he leaves, his wife has no clue as to what drove him away because there was a lack of communication. She wonders what he is doing, and think about how she might be the problem but she doesn't care. In the end, he was too "kind" and never spoke what what truly in his heart so why should she be upset.
Besides my reflection hanging high?
Maybe this means that he thinks that his love is just too far above him, and reflects what he wants to be?
"He was so kind, such a gentleman tied to the ocean side
Lighting a match on the suitcase's latch in the fading of night."
The line, "tied to the ocean side," brings to mind an image of being chained. The man in this story feels "tied down" in his current state, probably a relationship, but up to this point he's masqueraded as the loyal, faithful type. Because of his commitment issues, he packs up and leaves while his girlfriend is sleeping.
"Ruffle the fur of the collie 'neath the table
Ran out the door through the dark
Carved out his initials in the bark"
The collie symbolizes a stable, "American dream" type life. You know, the house, dog and picket fence. So maybe these two are just married and he's had second thoughts. He carves his initials in the tree as a way of saying goodbye - implying he's too cowardly to say it face to face.
"Then the Earth shook, that was all that it took for the dream to break
All the loose ends would surround me again, in the shape of your face."
Now we're in the voice of the girl he left. The "dream" of love and a family life is gone. She still loves him, though. Why?
"What makes me love you despite the reservations?
What do I see in your eyes?
Besides my reflection hanging high?"
She's questioning why she even cares about him. Despite the fact that he ran out on her, despite the fact that he left without warning, despite the fact that he shattered their future together, she's still in love anyway. "My reflection hanging high" is like...a soul mate. When you find someone that's so perfect you feel like you share the same soul. (yeah yeah yeah sappy I know)
"Are you off somewhere reciting incantations?
'Sim Sala Bim!' on your tongue?
Carving off the hair of someone's young?"
The only thing she can do is wonder where he is, what he's doing, and who with. I don't get the hair thing though.
"Remember when you had me cut your hair?
Call me 'Delilah' then, I wouldn't care."
Now I'm reminded of the Samson and Delilah story, where hair is a source of strength. Remember that he saw marriage as being "tied to the ocean side," so maybe he also saw it as being stripped of his power. Now the "carving off the hair of someone's young" line makes sense! She's wondering if he's involved with another woman, "cutting her hair" meaning tying her down. Maybe he loves this other person enough to marry her.
I reaaaallly need to learn how to summarize better but I'm too lazy :) Does anyone get what I'm trying to say?
The narrator seems to be singing about someone who travels a lot, and is, therefore, away from him a lot. The line, "What do I see in your eyes, besides my reflection hanging high," indicates that he is the singer’s father; his reflection is hanging high above him in his father’s eyes. The singer loves him because he is his father, but he has reservations for good reasons. The guy is always travelling away from his family. He even leaves his family to go on spiritual quests, reciting, "Sim sala bim." At certain points the singer sees through his familial love and starts to realize that his father is far from perfect ("the dream to break"). "Cutting off the hair of someone’s young" could refer to the father having a second family. He should be cutting the singer’s hair, not someone else’s young.
My only guess on the last lines are that the singer is actually his daughter. She perhaps feels that she is betraying her father by feeling that he is not a good person. If he would accuse of her of this she could finally break away from him. I guess everything above works pretty well if the singer is actually his wife.
The person, though he (or maybe she) is desperately and loyally in love with another, can't understand the feelings (or even doesn't see them) of this "another" anymore. And the object of his/her love has found someone else, but afraid to tell the truth.
<3