A more positive possible take on this song: it's not about dissatisfaction and longing for the past, it's about young love that's grown old. his wife is the same girl who he meets beyond the ridge. in the last stanza, "our newborn love" is actually a newborn, their child. "time has bridled us both", meaning we're old now but we're still in love, i remember how it was when we were young.
but that interpretation is pretty much ruined by "i met my wife at a party when i drank too much". how could he have met her at a party if he knew her from the ridge?
i also love the small details he changed in this (in the reins) version, like: "beyond the ridge to the west, the sun had left the sky" - another sign of age, of loss.
A more positive possible take on this song: it's not about dissatisfaction and longing for the past, it's about young love that's grown old. his wife is the same girl who he meets beyond the ridge. in the last stanza, "our newborn love" is actually a newborn, their child. "time has bridled us both", meaning we're old now but we're still in love, i remember how it was when we were young.
but that interpretation is pretty much ruined by "i met my wife at a party when i drank too much". how could he have met her at a party if he knew her from the ridge?
i also love the small details he changed in this (in the reins) version, like: "beyond the ridge to the west, the sun had left the sky" - another sign of age, of loss.